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LIVING STRUCTURES

a division, of -'.
Crown Publishers

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 72-96651

All rights reserved No part of this book may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and re¬
trieval system without permission in writing from
the Publisher.

Harmony Books

a division of Crown Publishers, Inc,

419 Park Avenue South
New York, New York
10016

Printed in the United States of America

Published simultaneously in Ca.nada by
General Publishing Company Limited.

GROVELAND /a long time ago joe & mother & me put $3000
together to buy IS mostly timber acres in the rolling
country near the illinois river, the timber was second
growth just coming back from being plundered for coal
mine props early in the century the cleared meadow
land sure looked rusty & unproductive.

BUT/joe was really henry wellie isaacs, ex-kentucky boy/
horse trader/earth-nourisher & general survivalist. he
discovered ice cream on a stick (but lacked money for
patents) & drive-in eating systems in the twenties, did
night janitor work in kansas city plus share-cropping
during the depression, when they moved back to the land
he was coming down from a bad time selling used-cars,
that hurt him a lot. humane intelligence set him up
as an urban victim one morning he declared an end to
the gentle, but obsessive, drinking & returned to the land,
he recycled an old barn, the crates from a microwave
tower & some windows from a burned vaudeville theater to
make a tight, appropriate shelter for about $185.
some went for sawmill cottonwood lumber, but most for
wiring, stove & asphalt shingles,

JOE'S PARTNER ,''mother . was marie neville , grape-arbor
girl, fancy prairie, illinois, 1925. she could make
blackberry cobbler, do noodles from scratch, quilt
& get a sheet clean with homemade soap, she was a slim,
rangy person, one of the world's great woods-walkers
& movie-goers, her laughter was as sweet
as her technology.

THESE TWO / were pretty formidable Sc they turned the little
patch of ground into a rich eden of good experiences,
most of the years i was involved in a surreal wheat-
stonian series of oscillations taking place in nyc
(geographically) & fantasyland about design & the
industrial establishment, strange & schizy because
years before when just starting college i experienced
the massive comprehensive rush of overview.

probably as a result of ruth benedict, durant,
nuxley & mumford i began to factor the environment
& see the world entire for the first time, it was
a rich period which saw the construction of the
first Living Structures & Microhouses.

MOST IMPORTANT '! saw & felt the necessity for major
simplifications, & recognition of positive earth-
relationships & environmental change-Uiera.py to
release us all from the high-tech maniacs, but i was
a backslider, after teaching a. little architecture &
design, my pallid attempts to do the urban shuffle
were terminated by a neat surprise, i got a fellowship
in architecture from the Graham Foundation, so i took
the money & students who wanted to live outdoors to
Groveland. it was an early (1963) microcommunity which
foundered on old-fashioned menu-personality conflicts
but for the year or so it lasted we lived in old
schoolbuses, built the american outhouse equivalent
of the Japanese teahouse & a couple of new Microhouses.

EVERYBODY/spl i t except joe & mother while i burrowed
deeper into the loving trees, work on the hardware
for a different way of life rolled on. one day i
wrote a true letter & got launched into a long series
of articles on my designs for a popular magazine,
people all over built & used Living Structures &
Microhouses, so i became a consulting editor &
moved back to nyc. but it's negative to build real
things in big cities, my chance came to return to
Groveland when a guy in a middle western university
asked me to show people about Microhouses, just
before taking off with 2 seabags of tools & hardware,
i merged at speed with a great ironhead named
Carole.

NOW/we ’ re blowing the dust &. rust out of Groveland
with some new people who also want to tread lightly
on the earth.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL /if you think of all the
methods & efforts a person brings to bear to get
a thing done, the main part is ’'head-tooling."

TV MAGIC/ the culture-conditioning limitation that is
the imprint of the media supersalesmen has slightly
wrecked our ability to concentrate & severely warped
our time-sense, shuffling credit cards & signing
monthly payment agreements have decreased our
ability to handle the real-time activities
of making & being.

PRE-MUZAK TIME/ think of time-sense another way.
they used to show us the big upright monolithic
heads from Easter Island in grade school, the
teacher said they were carved on the ground, then
spoke with wonder & mystery about "how did the
'simple 1 savages raise them to a vertical position
without the benefits of the Industrial Revolution
&. the teamsters union?" we sat in our little rows
shaking our heads like the airedales in a Rival
comraerical. it was impossible to conceive of it. but
a few years ago Thor Heyerdahl went down there with
simple levers & an idea & demonstrated a whole
new point of view, he used really tiny graduated
systems of pebbles & just lifted a stone head
a hair at a time, it apparently worked pretty
nicely, he almost did it in just a day with no
more than four or five people.

HEAD-TOOLING

REALITY WARP /the wierd point of Easter Island
is that it didn't take those guys forever to do this,
it. didn't take long at all, have we been oversold
on complicating & elaborating our tooling process
with complex, expensive (cosmically, ecologically)
mechanized aids in hope of timesaving? then for
what is the time saved? to be starved & crazed; to fill
by reading Playboy or running around breaking
radio aerials off parked cars?

it makes about as much sense as a 1^—hour drive on
the Long Island Expressway to make the less-than-2-
hour flight to Chicago.

DETUNING/ we * re going to detune individually & seek
more steady rhythms in ourselves, generally this
improves the ability to concentrate, concentration
is a great & precious state of grace, i think it
valuable because it is a sign that i'ra really getting
into & penetrating what i ’ m doing, in some imprecise
sense it is the reverse of alienation, just hand the
next two-year-old kid you run into his first
rubber band &. observe how integral concentration
is to the human animal.

ADVANTAGES OF SIMPLE TOOLING ,'this same concentration
permits us to set about breaking the relentless grip
of a culture which demands that we have the newest,
biggest & fastest power tools before we begin building
anything, it will make it possible for us to utilize,
understand & control simple tooling, the ability to
use simple tooling effectively is not just good for
our state of being but from a pragmatic point of view
it means you can build without investing too much of
your economic resources, in ecological terms, if that
investment is low the result is personal independence
& the handmaidens of personal independence are
beyond price for they are gentle assurance &
non-violent self-confidence.

1NLKEA5E 5ENSITIVITY /once you simplify the tooling &
get deeper into the characteristics & capabilities of
each tool, you begin to get more precision in your
results, by focusing on a tool you find what it will
do & how it does it but more important, how your action
augments, modulates or negates its performance, if you
use it enough & your observation-sensitivity is
operational, you will end by being able to do things
with the tool which will surprise & amaze you.

you don't have to be a zen master to recognize that
this will.result in some pretty peachy changes in
your relationship with self & thus with the rest
of the universe.

THE ffi.185 HOUSE/ v.-e took two old barns apart, they were
just small barns but there was a lot of good lumber
in them, no big romantic beams, like House & Garden
magazine, just, early twentieth-century 4x4 ' s, 2x4's&
siding but it was just the thing for framing up a little
house in the woods, joe discovered a microwave relay
tower going in over on the Peoria road & all the ports
had been shipped in fine heavy wood crates, the crew
erecting the tower was pretty set on burning them as
the usual libation to Mammon & all the gods of waste
& consumption but joe, my father, six-packed them out of
that, he loaded the old jeep five or six times & the media
equipment crates became the sheathing for the house,
he found the little old crooked windows in a 1920 1 s
movie house that was being wrecked, the S185 hard money
went mostly for shingles, tarpaper, cement & a few
new nails.

THE FIRST MICR0H0USE/ the first one ever built was a I

72" (slightly more than average man height) cube in the j
Groveland timber, i built it in the early 1950's out I
of tempered masonite hardboard panels screwed & glued I
to some 2x2's salvaged from my first Living Structure. j
people had built small shelters before, mostly in I

humble unrecorded places like the arid scratchlands I

of asia & the favellas of the southern hemisphere. I

all those efforts had the beauty & directness of the
bravery & courage of our kind of animal up against
the wall doing his sweet best, all the little houses I
of the past were the status castle, scaled down by I

malnutrition & exploitation of the builders, i made
the Microhouses as one best guess to shelter post- .

industrial men; compacted & liberated from the "mort— i

gage," "furniture," & "what—will-the-neighbors—say?"

tf AFTEK/ rao t-iver &
f. joe dido' t need
it any more we
turned their
1 -it'tle *5.h>iae into
•a .^orkstj/op. we
mad&ft' deck, it's

• ■* f a • * t t F * at**

* so fine, to work

1 • * _g • • • 9 - n • g f • • |

.. ' outside.

c-huc k

NEIGHBORS /one of the most important things
about any great place is the people across
the road, mel & John have sort of held the

• • • • • • k #' I » ' 4 k I 9 V • • i • 1 | A VS # t # * ' •

Groveland thing together through my travels
8c excursions. they combine computer graphics/
canning, growing up in Peoria, housebuilding,
raising seven children plus an easy familiarity
with all the Parisian monuments &. Edinburgh
parks, not by being rich in money in the old
sense but rather by being competent & whole
i'n head, hand & heart.

10. SETTING UF /makina a place to build things & a
unit to work on. a step-by-step easy
progression that tells you how to buy wood
right & how to grade it & judge it.
measuring, marking & cutting with the hand
saw are covered, inexpensive buying of tools
is discussed along with an accurate drilling
setup that costs only 315. how to choose
a decent hardware store, shopping list p. 13.

25. NEW SLEEPING LOFT /it doesn't have to fasten to
the wall so it moves easy, made from just
one kind of member it's easy to change or
add to. this 48" module can even be used
to build an outdoor shelter, shopping list p. 41.

42. JOSH HENRY LIVING STRUCTURE /this is a personal,
individual kid's "house" built in his own
room, based on the 36" module it is flexible
to grow with the child, shopping list p. 52.

54 INFINITE STORAGE SYSTEM ,'’using one universal
panel you can build up, down or sideways
in a completely 3-D way & knock it down to
10 per cent of its erected size for moving,
shopping list p. 58.

61. CHUCK'S CHAIR /the Panel-Matrix principle is
applied to a 24" module to make a classic
free chair, shopping list p. 63.

64. ARTICULATED LIGHT BULB /how to make a light bulb
float with the minimum support & the maximum
movement possibilities, designed to work
with Living Structures but it will work on
a wall too.

66 . MICRODORM 2 /this Living Structure is built of
light stressed-skin plywood like a bridge,
it provides sleeping, storage & study-work
in the floor area of a single bed for
ages 6-20 or even beyond, shopping
list p. 71.

CONTENTS

74. FUN HOUSE/ this outdoor Living Structure for
hikers & campers can be erected on
leased or short-term-use ground, it’s a
base camp for a new kind of exploration,
shopping list p. 83.

84. 5UPERCHAIR /it' s a sitting-napping-reading¬
listening place on a noble eighteenth-century
scale, it's even an extra bed.
shopping list p. 93.

94. 8 ' MICROHOUSE /you can build this getaway
shelter capsule in your apartment for
about $300 with hand tools, then it will
go to the country in a station wagon,
several will make a family village with
privacy for all. shopping list p. 104.
legalities & zoning p. 106.

108. OLD MICR0H0U5E /i've been living in this one
off & on since 1962 & we keep using the
properties of flexibility & expandability
that are unique to it. it can be started
for about $1800 & added to as you make it.
shopping list pp. 124-25.

126. IN WORK/ this is some of the stuff we are
working on right now: a new vertical
Microhouse in a pipe-frame Matrix
at Groveland; new wooden fittings
for joining tubing that you can
fabricate in your basement or garage
with simple tools; a New World pickup
truck made of plywood panels & based
On the available VVV floor pan &
running gear; the Dragonfly catamaran
houseboat using modular construction; & a
new 18' Microhouse with internal Matrix
& multiple, overlapping living levels.

BEGINNING/ the best way I know
to get into Living Structures is
to make a 24" cube, it’s a chance to
perfect all the operations involved
in larger Structures & the modules
are really useful when you work
with wood or metal a.t home .
the units make good tables to mark
& saw plywood & 2x2’s on. they.are
fine, stable tool stands for the
little electric drill press.

HOW IT WORKS /it has just 12 parts (or bones}
excluding fasteners & various topping
choices, being built of repeated universal
members 24" long with just 6 holes in each
one. the expectation is that each bone
will be an interchangeable part with so
little variation that your anxiety level
can be lowered on final assembly by

knowing that whatever one
comes t.o hand

-- is the correct piece.

USES /the 24"
module is a good
workbench for
josh henry & i use
several as desks,

■ f . » f * m %. * , J # * ’ m |» F « fc • *

typewriter tables
& drawing board
bases, you can bolt
modules'together for
larger work surfaces
or small painting
scaffolds.

control ledgBfebr ication
interchangeable 'parts came up'the river from New :
Orleans, for perhaps the first time one can really participate c
in the Industrial Revolution Sc end up with a neat little package a
which can be knocked down in a few minutes &. carried handily by
public transport anywhere far or near in this world, after you d
begin to shift head gears, you need hard tooling, raw materials i
& an operational track. '•$

VERSAL' M

MODUL

MYSTIQUE OF THE LUMBERYARD/ it might help right now
if i outline my head-tooling for going to the
lumberyard, any good person resists the easy
pleasures of cynicism when faced with negative
behavior, on the other hand these are pa.rlous times
(maybe all times were) & it is helpful to approach
the lumberyard with an alert mind, certainly,
not chip on the shoulder, but alert & taping
all that happens, maybe it's just that some guys
in the business have been spoiled by the easy
pickings represented by all those do-it-yourselfers
who roll in every Saturday morning in the $5500
station wagons with eyes as wide as Venusian
space pilots, anyway, there is generally quite
an attitude there & it is a barrier to getting
usable materials, you must work out ways of
getting around it,

THE GREAT TELEPHONE SWINDLE/ the first thing is,
don’t order by phone, it doesn't work & you will
get the wrong thing or an unusable thing that
way. one of the marvels of modern times is the
way a perfectly nice guy will either con you
or at best give short shrift by phone when he
wouldn't do the same face-to-face, one to one.
truly the telephone is an instrument that fos¬
ters alienation.

UNDERSTANDING WOOD TERMINOLOGY / first off, if you
haven't contacted the lumber-business brand of insanity
vet, accept the fact that a 2x2 piece of wood
is not really 2 inches bv 3 inches measured in
cross-section, it may have measured a full 2 inches
square at some time in its life but by the time
klln-drving& shrinking & planing is done it is
only lw'xli". in fact, you might find it
difficult to get 2x2's for a reasonable price in
your area, if you can get lumber cut to these
dimensions it's usually better to get that which
is planed smooth on all sides (industry code for
this is "S4S,” or "surfaced on all 4 sides") .

BUYING WOOD

PRICES ,-several of the people i've talked with
lately have mentioned that prices of up to
350 per running foot have been charged them,
this is really too much & should be nearer
150 per foot, what this probably means is that
this kind of lumber is a good spot to hook
the unwary in. a compelling problem is that
i -wouldn't even mind paying that much for good
sticks but they won't even be that much better
than pieces you can latch onto for less
if you know how to approach it.

DOING IT/ this is where the blueprint part starts,
now it doesn't do much good to be on the spot in
the yard if you can't influence & modulate the
course of events, the only way i’ve found to do this
is by the establishment of a one-to-one
relationship with a yard man. (the guys who work
lumberyards divide functionally into two
operationally based categories, the front guys in
the office who do the ordertaking & the salving
& the other guys out where the supplies are stored
who take your paid receipt, locate your stuff
& throw it on the ground by your vehicle, sometimes
in small yards these two categories overlap but
these are the ground rules. ) you do the best you
can with the front-office people but it is sometimes
hard because they are really just salesmen & the
manipulative objectives of this line of work
fairly well exclude any massive concern for the
customer's well-being, the place to get hip
is with the yard man who actually selects & touches
the material you will work with later on.

COMMUNICATING .'this may generate feelings of personal
Shallowness in you because most of us have been
encultured in the way of holding the cards so no one
can see them, this is just a contextual figure-
ground problem because the good dream is that we will
all become increasingly open with others, even those
casually encountered. &. talk & share a little bit of
what we're occupied with, at best one tries to do
this with most encounters, not just those where we
hope to elicit a certain kind of performance, so if
the intent is positive & general the aspect of
manipulation really doesn't apply, we all try to
observe this as a general way of behaving & if
other people return it you really learn & life gets
interesting.

OPENNESS,’Share a little of what you're building
with others, thus it’s possible for them to be a
little responsive to what you are trying to get.
remember that this paltry $10 worth of flower stems
may be the stuff which your life dreams are made of
but to the yard man it's just a 2|-minute gig which
is only one of thousands which stand between him &
his ambition to become a famous brain surgeon, if
you tell him what you are into, that is, why you
want 2x2's straight & dry. he may get interested in
a human way & respond, how would you like to work
in a lumberyard where all these madmen with more
money than knowledge come in every weekend & buy out
the house for some purpose which is unknown &
indeterminate to you? alienation is all around us.

WHAT KIND OF WOOD? i haven't said anything yet about
what kind of wood you get. most often we use Douglas
fir or White fir. i have also heard from people
who like spruce 2x2's. the Douglas fir is really good
because it is relatively strong (it's a prime choice
in the light construction industry). it has long-
leafed overlapping hard-grain components which
make it strong, these components make the grain
prominent under visual observation. White fir is
not so strong because the hard-soft parts of the
grain are more evenly distributed without the over¬
lapping patterning, it is quite a bit lighter than
Douglas fir, which is great when you are lifting or
moving finished structures by air freight, the
Douglas fir is more orangey in color & oxidizes
(with clear finishes) to a richer color on exposure
to sunlight. White fir is pretty pristine
to begin with, bone white in some cases, & stays
lighter through its life, the hard-grain segments
make Douglas fir a little more difficult to finish
than the White fir, but also a little more resist¬
ant to damage from impact or knocks.

HUMBLE MATERIALS/ there is a kind of Jeffersonian
democratic seeking in taking the most
simple & common materials & through careful study,
workmanship & shots of soul trying to realize their
beauty, it's not that i'm immune to the "finer" woods,
because i do respond to historical uses of paneling or
guitar veneers or a little piece of teak in the hand,
it must be that i just resent the historical
imperatives of the middle class which overvalue
scarcity or other kinds of expensive exoticism,
i guess i don't agree with the idea that
diamonds are a girl's best friend, i tend
to believe that calcium & phosphorus are.

WOOD/

4 pcs. 2"x2"x96" (8’ long}

HARDWARE/

24 pcs. l/4"-20x3 1/2" flathead machine bolts
24 pcs. 5/16" flat washers
24 pcs. 1/4" split-spring lock washers
24 pcs. l/4"-20 hex nuts

4 pcs. r-diameter furniture glides, with nail

(Domes of Silence)

all hardware to be bright plated (cadmium or zinc).

OH THE LINE/ do your rap with the yard man
as you go so he knows why "straight" & "dry."

(it may take a couple of visits to really
establish rapport with the guy but it will be
rewarding in many ways when you succeed
i should tell you that we only accept lumber
which has been stored in the shed because
it seems the stuff that's stashed outside
under the polyethylene sheets is usually
pretty wild. )

SORTING

CULLING /three 8' pieces will make the 24" cube,
in theory this is true but in practice usually
the mills cut short so you can’t quite get 4
24" pieces from an 8' mill length, also every time
you cut it off you lose between 1/16" and 1/8", get¬
ting the extra 8-footer solves this problem & lets
you do what my Kentucky grandfather called "culling
that just means sorting & laying by the less
desirable pieces & using only the cream,
this seems kind of wasteful but since we don’t
live in a perfect world it gives better results
in the structure that you're working on. also
you may ruin a piece & need a spare (or want
to add a piece or two to modulate the form
of the unit). an old European machinist told me
once to always make two or three more parts than i
planned to use while i was set up for it to avoid
going back & reseting up. stay as close as you can
to the yard man but don't make him anxious,
if he's real busy & you want to gamble, offer
to pick them out yourself after assuring him
you won't wreck the stack or stay forever,
sometimes it works but usually after you get
acquainted it works better.

SHAPE OF THE ENDS ,'look at the end of each piece,
the cross-section should be fairly square with
each angle 90 degrees as at left below,
avoid pieces with irregular shape like the
one on the right, they won't assemble well.

SELECTING THE 2x2'S ,'as the yard ma.n pulls them,
try to touch & handle each one. sight down it
to see warp, roll it in your hands quickly
to read visible signs, heft it. you'll get so
good that you can feel a light, dry, straight
piece before looking at it. wet., sappy, crooky
pieces feel like a bent water pipe, small tight
knots are OK if they don't mark an extreme
deviation in long axis, look out for pieces
with "checks" (short splits with the grain),
these appear because drying stresses have
been too severe, avoid pieces with sticky
honey-like sap pockets & splits.

RIPPING FROM 2x4'S /sometimes yards don't stock
2x2's. then buy the best 2x4's you can & scout a
friend with a table saw. large cities have
neighborhood rec centers with woodshops.
small towns have high school shops
& college towns have craft workshops,
ripping (lengthwise sawing) sequence
is at right, better not let
lumberyard guvs cut anything
for vou. their cutting is
not the best.

WARPING

a good metal tape 10 feet
long & learn the fractions
that go with the lines,
get a couple of No, 2 A
pencils & keep them M
Sharp all the time, fl

other kinds of squares jgS
will work a little
but we always use
combination squares .

for accuracy. B/v

i'd avoid buying -VTt

either the best (too /
expensive), or the worst v_.
(not truly usable ) y? :

in this tool.
about $4.50 should
do it & for this figure •;./ '
you get a neat little ’■'%
integral scriber which
will be great later on 1
for marking dimensions on.
metal pacts, as always,
substitute other apparent¬
ly similar tools with the
knowledge that your results
may be disappointing.

Combination

square;

STORING WOOD/ if youVre v ;...;' '

involved in craftsmanship {//?*’

give thought to careful handling '

& storage of materials, every Y'.y'.'

nick & warp between buying &

making adds time finishing & may waste v..--

a piece or degrade the finished

structure, avoid damp places &

temperature extremes.

shoot for a good level surface, off the floor
& a neat stack.

& CUT

SAWING BY HANDj l't r s.->VV.-vv
mental physical .a o fc:-/!-;

hold the piece down
with hand & knee
on something stable:
the straight-sawed line
begins deep in your mind
& concentration & runs
through your arm down
into the saw. practice
on scraps to feel it.

TOOLS

BUYING TOOLS /the level of a person's skill is a
reflection of many things, deep internal qualities
of mind & experience are the strongest factors,
the heaviest external components are probably
the tools, all those i know who build well
choose tools carefully, cost is a factor but the
price of one item like a steel tape won’t
break you.

GARAGE SALES & FARM AUCTIONS /trv the garage sales
for good buys, get into the country to the
Saturday farm auctions for the lowest prices,
go early so you have a chance to meander & handle
& examine the stuff so it's not a blind trade,
the old farmers pass & the younger people
don't usually feel that those old-fashioned
junky tools are supportive of the Gran Prix
life style, suburban garage sales are good because
many tools are purchased just for the theatrical
background effect & they get dumped for little
money after the new wears off.

WHAT KIND OF 5AW?/ handsaws come tv/o ways, rip &
crosscut, "rip” means to cut parallel to the grain,
this type has less teeth per inch & more set.

'set 1 refers to the way the teeth are bent (alternately)
out of the blade plane, this widens the ''kerf"

"sawn slot in the wood" & prevents binding.

"crosscuts” are designed to cut across the grain
(as in cutting the 2x2's to length).

for general use i have an old 12-teeth-per-inch
crosscut, the fine teeth cut smoother & it still
works for rare rips, it cuts plywood with minimal
bottom-side splintering.

CHECKING OUT OLD SAWS /look cl ose at individual
teeth, are they rounded off & worn down too
far? heavy rust is a negative sign, sight
down the blade to make sure it hasn't been kinked,
even with a new saw make sure the blade is springy
& lively, it won't be a good companion if it's
too stiff & thick.

THE RASP/ one of the most, indispensable tools
is a four-m-one rasp (sometimes called
a "shoemaker’s rasp"), it's a no-handle wood file
with fine & coarse teeth milled on both sides,
one side is flat & the other is slightly curved
for curved surfaces, it'll eat up the wood
& your hand at first but once you get sensitive
to it, what a great tool, it's hard to get
a good one where the teeth are really sharp now
because the toolmakers seem to be on a
McLuhanesque trip where they supply a piece of
metal with visual texture, blister-packaged
artistically, but you find the rasp teeth are not
really sharp, the best one i am using now is
a Nicholson.

WORK PLACE

WORK SPACE/it' s easy to buy a saw but it's not
quite so easy to find a good place to work & con¬
centrate. a 2j-room apartment offers a. couple of
choices, clear the "bedroom” for building & sleep
temporarily in the "living" room, this is optimum
because you can close up the workroom & isolate it.
you can alternatively compress the furniture into
one end of the main room & work in the opened-up
end. keep a vacuum cleaner handy & pick up the saw¬
dust at frequent intervals, inexpensive plastic
painter’s tarps over furniture beat air-borne dust

DRILLING. HOLES /tooUng for putting
accurate holes in lumber is the
next’ number & can be done on several
different levels by now we've most
all had the heady experience & ego
boost which comes from the small

| 4 * ^ * .1 Mt ~ | • * / ► • • M . 4 * . k • 4

• •it” • , t f • 4 » T ■ x | I 9 • | j 4 ( T ■ • * • • • i r • *

portable electric drill A

hand-held, almost alive with
its 1750 rpm’s gyroscoping
your wrist as you pull the
trigger, what a trip: you feel
like Ibsen 1 s master builder
with his head screwed on right.
ah, power, we'll swiss cheese
the farthest reaches of the

tlie only important.

universe _

factor missing here is control.
a hole acquires meaning by its
position in the board & relationship
to other holes in adjacent boards,
the long axis of the hole works best
if perpendicular to the long axis
of the 2x2 & also at 90 degrees in both
directions to the face of the piece:

GA UTI O N/I ■wo.uldhjt -

fre-e - :•

handy-'thgi-e. evenf. just' ■
itOYiae.- -T&siyttf. Accuracy ...
0 f t r r w a t P.K ing; a L 6t. c f
peopl^vtx^t'. i don't thunk
a 'Dal-at Lama .who. was also
the'-Kesi"’ Porsche engine
rebuilder in lov-i City
could handle; it. the only
next.tooling level down is
i:,h:e old-fas hion ed.ha n d
b.ra'D'e.'w i tit' a '.wota'd' auge r..' ■
.iji-ey ^re'ltail you can quit
‘dri.i'lang; how & .t‘h-en to sight
for vsrti b/ili'ty from
foot h ir.a i n di re. t i ms .

grosses slowly
enough so it doesn't get .
away from .you. the big chips
exiting the holes are- very
satisfying. & beautiful,
you're in a Durer
woodcut, the feeling that

m m a • • m * * ** * A • * _ A * v * " " ■ * ^ 1

no electric power is
involved is very positive.

THE OPTIMUM DRILLING SYSTEM /the best of all
possible worlds in drilling is the
small portable electric drill mounted in
one of the relatively inexpensive
drill stands now marketed, this solid
mounting, turns a loose, wandering tool
into one which goes where you want it to.
combine this with some ideas'about
immobilizing the 2x2 while you drill it &
you can real.ly make interchangeable parts.

ACCURACY/1 ay out & marking are of primary
importance in getting fine results in building,
the working of wood & carpentry has acquired
a kind of stopgap cobbler's approach as if fine
work could not be done with wood anymore,
in some golden age in the past, yes. but not
now. the surge of industrial production using
metals in this country in this century has
somehow blunted our approach to working wood
& we assume that the results will be crude,
the truth is that with reasonable care even the
soft woods can be worked to very close tolerances.

THE SHARP PENCIL/ make sure you are using
a good sharp pencil with not too soft lead
when making the cutoff lines for sawing the 2x2's.
when you mention wood, some well-meaning clown
shows up with a carpenter's pencil that has
lead as big around as a Pepsi bottle & is
terribly proud of his tool choice which he
bolsters by saying "carpenters use it, don't they?
i use a 4H drawing pencil sharpened with
a fine file to a sharp point, you may find it
better beginning to use a No. 2 pencil
with eraser, it'll flatten out as you mark
with it, so make light, accurate lines
& sharpen it from time to time.

ACCURACY

SA'i'.IKG SQUARE ,'one good approach to sawing
the ends of 2x2 1 s square (so the end plane is per¬
pendicular to the long axis of the board) is
to mark 3 adjacent sides of the piece for cutoff
with the combination square, make a shallow sawcut
along each of these lines before turning
the middle marked side up & sawing in the
ordinary manner, hesitate periodically to check
if your cut is within the limits established
by the first shallow cuts, just keep making sure
you are remaining in the plane of the cut.
try to establish that plane in your mind
& really feel the paths of the handsaw in relation
to the ideal plane cut slowly, not pressing
too hard because the tool isn't a steak knife,
it’s a saw. probably this attitude about
cobbling when using wood seems to cause us to
attack the piece viciously & hurry, hurry
to separate it. most of us seem to use handsaws
like we are killing the werewolf
the way of precision & results which give
inner satisfaction when working wood
come in stately rhythms,
the way is not jump cuts.

EXPERIMENTVa good way to open up any operation

which is new to you (or that you have done before

but with unsatisfactory results) is to experiment

on a scrap two or three times before committing your

good material in the process, in this way

one can improve the technique & act with assurance

& confidence, avoiding the ruining of materials,

waste & the attendant guilt &. negative emotions.

i always cut off the mill (existing) end of the

2x2 because it might be slightly damaged or rough.

the better lumber mills usually seal

this highly absorptive end grain with a wax

or coding paint, it seems better to make your

own cut & have it consistent with

all your other cuts.

DOING IT, 'OK. so mark a 24" length on one of your
2x2's. cut with the handsaw about 1/64" to the right
of your line, that is, leave the line showing after
your cut is finished, this provides a guide later for
rasping the end square, also it never seemed smart to
me to obliterate your guide line as you go because
this prevents referring back to it to see how you are
doing, if a surveyor worked without leaving
stakes behind him at the principal intersections of

are all components which have the sawn face as a resultant,
bad luck doesn't figure here, if the face
comes out perpendicular to the long axis of the 2x2
fairly cohesive in plane it is the result of having
all the forces distributed in the right places.

USING THE RASP /'now use the four-in-one rasp t,o smooth
& improve the relationship of the sawn end to the
other planes of the 2x2. i do it with the piece in
the same position a.s sawing, holding it down with
my left hand & left knee, working the rasp with m.y
right hand, it seems important to rotate the stick
as you work as this sort of cancels out the massive
distortions everyone seems to get when .just working
in one position only, the original pencil marks
remain to work from & you can help by imagining
the ideal plane you want to achieve as you
work, this influences your hand, use the
flat fine side of the rasp mostly until
you get hip to the tool's way of life,
the rough side really grooves & eats
up the wood so you want to gain
some sensitivity before unleashing
it. try to work from the edge near
you to a little past the middle of
the end face, sometimes the rasp
will splinter the opposite side
if your stroke is too long, since
you are working from all sides
rotating you will pick them all up
in sequence, try to think flat,
the general tendency is to round the
end with a loopy stroke of the rasp,
if you concentrate & stick with it you'll
be surprised at how much control you can
develop, one of the old Englishmen who started
Rolls Royce was so good with a metal file that
he could put a piece of round stock in a vise &
file 6 flats on it to make a hexagon within dimen¬
sional variations of about a hundredth of an inch, just
with a hand tool without marking or laying out before,
that's real concentration & skill, more important,
it must do something really great for your head.

his sight lines he would lose his frame of reference,
so will you if you are sloppy &. cut through the layout line
use the master to mark your other pieces
(marking from the line, not the cut),
better saw after marking, then mark
then saw. that way no trouble
with the saw kerf.

DETUNING/keep in mind that you are
trying to beat the enculturation of
mindless hurry & try to ease yourself
deep into this sawing like the old
hippo in the mud in the Tarzan
movies, get sensitive to what's
going on, it's a whole new world
of phenomenal events on a different
scale, body stance, position of the
head, good firm spot to rest the piece on

(at an unstraining height between 18" & 24" from the floor)

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V/’AViV,

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tessaS

IMMOBILIZING THE 2x2 /place the master 2x2, with
hole centerlines marked, in position under the drill,
prepare three small triangles (or squares) of plywood
with one perfectly straight edge & two 1" brads (small
nails) in each one. lower the drill to within 1/8" of
the centerline cross marks so the relationship can be
evaluated & move the master around until the hole
nearest the end is centered under the bit. tack two
of the pieces of plywood to the baseboard along the
back long, edge of the 2x2 {about 5'' apart) . make
sure you're holding the position & when it checks
out take the third block & nail it in as an
end stop for the 2x2.

YOUR PERSONAL INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIQN /you have just
built a simple jig. shades of Henry Ford.

Arkwright & James Watt, at long last a citizen is
able to take direct advantage of a simple but
outrageously helpful technique of the industrial
age. most often these techniques have been
used to make a hip few rich while the salesmen
&. interior decorators have exhorted us to love
irregularity of form because by doing so we
somehow express some uniqueness about ourselves
simultaneously, those guys were proving all too
conclusively that a cornucopia of plenty can be
built by observing regularity & fidelity In
the structuring of material objects.

DOING IT/ anyway. go ahead & drill all twenty-four
end holes, have care that these holes are kept
parallel {in the same face of the 2x2, that is)
when switching ends because that's sometimes
a problem, all holes are made with a 5/16''-diameter
bit. since 1/4" bolts are used to assemble, these
holes give some tolerance (leeway) when bolting,
beat the negative of splintering on the underside
of the 2x2 where the drill bit comes out
by always holding it in contact with the baseboard

CHECKING & DETUNING /spot-check with measuring tape
from time to time to be sure the blocks or drill
or stand have not shifted from the kinetics of use.
as to approaching the actual pulling down of the
handle which causes the bit to travel through the
wood-it's a similar proposition to the handsaw,
give the tool time, let up on the handle if the
drill packs with wood fragments & slows down,
our general tendency despite the powerful myths of
American know-how are to hurry, hurry & end by
almost punching the bit through the wood, this causes
splintering when the drill leaves the wood & it is
negative, reset the end-stop block properly for the
second pair of holes from the end. drill, then reset
for the center holes, now you have fabricated at
least 12 beautiful universal members with 2 or 3
spares from the fourth 8' piece, if you're human
there's no sense in discussing sanding & finishing
at this point because the big charge now is to
assemble the structure & see what is.

FASTENERS/ to erect it you need bolts, if you don't

already know one, pick out a hardware store.

not .just any one will do these da.ys because most

"hardware" stores seem to be appliance stores

(or something) with lip service to the original

idea in the form of some Taiwanese tin foil

tools & top-heavy racks of blister-packaged screws

& bolts, nothing will convince us so completely

that we are in the twentieth century as purchasing four

tiny bolts & nuts cleverly imprisoned in a

little chrysalis of cardboard & plastic

for some ridiculous price.

HARDWARE

IDENTIFYING A REAL HARDWARE STORF /1 onk for the old-
fashioned hardware store where the clerks are grim
as deacons since they are the last guardians of
scarce & arcane products, if the guy puts your bill
in a little cannister. twists it onto an overhead
carrier that looks like a long-span ski lift,

& shoots it to a little crow's-nest mezzanine
in the upper back by pulling down vigorously on an
overhead rope that's a good sign, if he exhibits
the generous but icy civility of a Vatican diplomat
upon hearing your order, you have scored, just hope
they never go out of business.

QUANTITY BUYING & SPECIFICATIQNS .'depending on now
much you- are moved by this trip so far be aware
that you will pay through the nose for relatively
small quantities of anything, we are committed so
we buy in larger more economical amounts, at least
m packages of 100 units, which generally has more
favorable pricing, be sure all the hardware you
buy is brightly plated (either zinc or cadmium).
raw bolts & washers will rust quickly just from
the humidity in a house,

ASSEMBLY

PUTTING IT TOGETHER/ find a fairly level
surface & assemble the two opposite
side frames of the cube, the bolt heads
go outboard of the unit, all nuts &
washers inside, just hand-tighten
to start, get. her all together then
wrench-tighten one corner at a time,
when you use the wrench, draw the bolt
heads slowly into the wood until they
are flush with the surface with no
splintering, make sure faces of
adjacent members are flush before
tightening, this will help the whole
square up. when all bolts are
secured, turn the unit upside down
& gently tap the glides into the
center of the vertical members,
remember to cut about 1/8" from the
nail point so it doesn't interfere
with the bolt, your analog is now
weight-supporting & ready to go
to work for you. if your projected
use requires a top, cut a 24'' square
from a scrap of 1/2'' or 3/4" plywood
& bolt it in place using the midpoint
holes in the two top horizontal members.

INTERCHANGEABLE PART,S /industrial
production has always depended on the
many advantages coming from the idea
of duplicate parts, fabricated with
minimum variation, we can get profound
beneficial results, as individuals,
from this concept . anxiety levels
are lowered in building & standard
members can be recycled with great
ease because they haven't been so
specialized either in design or by
eyeballed inconsistencies in making.

SANDING & FTNISHING/ 'out a sanding
block from some 2x2 scrap, make it
4" long, instead of ordinary sandpaper
we use 3/0-120 C-wt. open coat aluminum
oxide production paper, tear it as
shown 8= it will just wrap up the sides
of the sanding block, three coats
of rubbed linseed oil or a penetrating
resin sealer like Firzite with sandings
after each coat makes for great
smoothness &. durability.

vfflMiffi//:

LIVING S TR UCT URE 'this is
our Matrix in Chicago
from the front door,
a Matrix is a group of
mobile space modules
like 3-D graph paper
that you live i n &
around, it is a new way
i discovered that makes
better furniture & houses
than the old methods,
but more important than
''better" is that it makes
real homes for our time

I ■ • . • i * • T § • 4 » , •' ^ — ^ • *

where you can feel content

Sc just .

THE NEW FREE -STANDING SLEEPING LOFT ;'marshaling
long arguments in favor of the sleeping loft
right now is about as gratuitous
as paperbacking an eskimo edition of Sir Francis
Bacon’s early food-refrigeration experiments,
the loft bed is so nifty & exciting to retire
to & makes so much sense spatially that it
is even rumored that politicians use them,
sleeping above floor level

frees a large area of the room for other uses,
the traditional static world view plops
a monster BED down in the middle of a room
& forever after that room is a bedroom,
it doesn't even matter how big the room is.
traditional beds, space-eating monsters
hunkering on the floor, are such a presence
that three of them could crowd the Astrodome,
we are just getting onto the fact that what
we can really use now are multifunctional spaces
which can be camera workshops in the morning,
rehearsal halls in the afternoon, friendly
restaurants in the evening & sleeping areas
for only about six hours late at night,
space is too precious to be limited
ritualistically to single functions

NEW

SLEEPING

LOFT

PROBLEMS OF THE SLEEPING LOFT/ despite the
recognized & obvious advantages of lofts,
two obstacles appear to rule out this delight
for a lot of people: not everyone is lucky
enough to have the high ceiling usually required
for the sleeping loft, and most

loft beds involve fastening the structure in some
brutal way to the landlord's walls, floor & ceiling,
even if your landlord is a regular St. Francis
& doesn't mind, there is still a hangup for you.
the heavy members & mean fastenings represent
a heavy investment in moving matter through
space, lag screws, star drills, molly bolts &
falling piaster. you do all this monster with the
salvaged railroad ties & bridge bolts then
twenty minutes after it's in place you discover
your karma demands you split for Oregon,
we all believe in the worth of the experiential
life process but the bee who never gets
any of the honey is being shorted.

THE LIVING STRUCTURE IDEA /thia mobility problem
& the height problem were two of the heavy ones
i thought about when first developing the
Living Structures back in the early 1950's,
we retripped on that when i came out
to Chicago in 1970 some guys at the university
there thought it would be a good idea
if i came out & talked with the architectural
students there about building Microhouses
& living in them, i was yo-yoing around
New York City then & had just finished four
months doing a thirty-six-slide projector
environmental structure for a broadway show,
i was also gently helping a major furniture
manufacturer butcher some of my Living Structures,
he had the fond hope that if they could be made
to resemble sofas & credenzas then the idea
could be exploited for money, that didn't work
so great & i noticed that casual hostility
was reaching new highs in Gotham that summer,
my arguments with cabdrivers & newsstand guys
were increasing in tempo & frequency
so i thought, 'why not go to Chicago?

CHICAGO-LATE SUMMER 1970 /i went & it was good,
the sweet winds from the lake felt good on the skin
8c the sun sparkled so bright you felt like living
forever, i met a lot of really noble people, inside
& outside the university, the school people
seemed sincerely interested in the students
as persons & it looked like a place which might
become a real research node for new ways
of living on Earth, outside the school i met
vickie. who may still succeed in making sense
out of the present voodooism of nutrition
& physical therapy, i could breathe almost
as slowly as peter, a fry-cook-saint close to
peace of mind making the long journey from
being a Canadian biker with a busted back to
doing something with the land, his lady, judy, was
a deep earth person who could probably do up a
Pacific sunset in a mason jar & play it back
to you next winter, she came with a little boy
named thys who once sanded two old painted-up
drawing boards with me. i watched & learned
much about intensity of concentration.

THE STUDENTS/ c a role helped me that first year

in the beginning architectural class & we really

connected with the people on a new basic

48"-cube module that was superflexible.

before leaving New York i'd spent twenty-nine seconds

thinking about something to build with them in

Chicago & a structure like that sounded good

but i wanted to work out with the students,

not just lay it on them like john & the Magna

Carta, so we went through a whole process

which was pretty legit & ended

with our group producing fifty units.

each guy in the group used one as his own to study,

sleep over in & store his equipment.

LIVING STRUCTURE

-.y-'-VV-v DESIGNING THE SPACE MODULE/

always, when you work on a new
i thing, part of that work takes

g .;-: place in terms of "what is,"

although most of it involves
what you believe or think
>' "should be," so to some degree
the 48" dimension was a function
of the fact that lumber &.

J plywood are milled & produced

• in sizes relating to that

dimension, but more important
■RfctfV-V that choice results in a unit

sB»zV<; which allows you to get the

KKftKf sleeping surface elevated with

space for study, lounging &
storage in the liberated space

N ’ underneath. a.ll this will fit

>;■ into the most frequently found

8' ceiling height, these units

r are independent of walls &

__ceiling & can be moved about the

room, they aren't anchored to
one static arrangement. they
J are easy to knock down,

~ move & erect in a new

place, the movable pack
** 223 ? is compact & the structures

adapt to different rooms
pretty nicely .

some guys took the 48" dimension sort of
hard, but i think it was because their
Consciousness was still atrophied at the
Western—European ego-tripping level of
"the higher the ceiling, the more important
the man." after you get into it physically &
experience it fully, these fears disappear,
after all, you can't stand up in a. Ferrari,

PRIVACY & ALTERNATIVES / •

we used these units at the
university with full plywood skins

for privacy, the skins had one big y/*‘.

entry hatch, a side hatch (& foot support for"
sleeping) & a top hatch so you could sit up high,
when you got burnt out with enclosure or wanted to
work with others, having a choice is really important

charley

HOW IT WORKS /the inside equipment system
includes the seat, worktable & shelf,
these are all made of flat planes of
hardboard stiffened by 2x2's underneath.
v. r e call the planes "pallets," because of their
form & load-carrying functions, in principle
they work like industrial skids which
support stacked cartons or boxes the pallets
span the width of the unit & rest on pairs
of horizontal 2x2 rails which are part of
the skeleton, they are not bolted down &
can be moved easily from one level to another
as uses change, the seat slides back & forth
so you can find the best position
for you.

• • • • ’ t — * • • » 4 t — # • • • i*. ' • » « a* . *• • t • • ■ * * ^ * • • •

SKIN /we used exterior plywood for the skin
because the general quality is.better in the
veneers & the adhesive, sometimes i wonder
why the mills continue to make interior grade
plywood, there's nothing sadder than a piece
coming apart & de-lair.inoting when exposed to
dampness, exterior grade plywood is sure
worth the money, there was a slight hook hero
because i wanted to broaden the use of this
structure & experiment with using it
outdoors at Groveland. just as a
matter of principle it seems positive
l to design & fabricate stuff which is

[ fundamental enough to apply to a

number of situations, this is what
\ God seems to have done when

\ making matter in the universe.

\ \ exquisitrvely simple, fit—

} \ anywhere components combine in

t \ many ways to produce richness &

/ \ variety, this may be what is

/ \ meant when "organic" is used

\ in connection with architecture

48''-CUBE MODULE AT GROVELA:
& lou came down, they comb
cells & raised them off thi
they roofed the whole thin
a ridge rope between two t:
tools &. gear & the other me
a Thetford self-contained
you could look out the foo

5,/t'hat first summer chuck
led their individual
ground on tetrahedrons,
with polyethylene over
les . one unit was for
e a great chamber for
oilet. when using it
hatch & feast the eye

on gentle hills sloping down to the Illino.i
River on the west, the overhead hatch was
spacious & handy since you could stand up t<
adjust your clothes, chuck & lou put air ma
tresses on top & slept under the poly-filte
stars while they put up an 8' Microhouse for
more permanent cua.rters. but they still use
module for the Thetford unit.

MATRIX

ECOLOGICAL RESULT S /'t he Matrix Idea, presents a very
different reality in terras of recycling materials,
traditional design & fabrication techniques
specialize & shape materials so particularly
that to reuse the only way is to apply power
to break it down then reconstitute it.
in using the Matrix Idea we keep parts general,
universal & all-purpose-. when needs change &
situations change the response is to alter the
assembly relationships of these parts, thus very
little power & effort are involved in adapting
to new conditions.

THE "BLUE BABY’V last year our group at the school

combined eight of these modules to make

an 8'-cube Microhouse, elevating it

off the ground on tetrahedrons.

this was a comprehensive application of

my Matrix Idea using multiple cells.

it is like a medieval alchemist's dream, we

took simple universal components &

aggregated them, it could work in a larger

size too. the pallet arrangement in this one

was complex but workable Sc supportive of

the activities of working, cooking & sleeping.

since the pallets can be rearranged without

tools, it is truly responsive to changes in

the life pattern of the person, some change from

the ritualistic design patterns of the past

which lacked mobility & were locked onto a

fixed pattern like a dead bulldog's jaws.

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wmm

ie needed some fram
lilt four of the
3m in an old North
ign v.as separated
n & the skin. for
eletons to preser\
1-idn 1 1 'use the skii
' much because the
' t the same

• * ' * • 4 4 4 • * » “ * . • * . ♦ ,

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the university,
'•V't’cj.P is 96" square
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3-D LiyiNC .'Liyifig Structures-are a-:;:

way f.o'i'; close people

single space w-it ; hoot gettinR

HOW TO USE IT Ave had the system set first to provide
each of us with a study, cosy & contained on the low
level, these areas convert easily (no tools) to extra
seating or sleeping surfaces, we used these spaces
face to face, which translates & aids our active
collaboration, it also feels good, the underspace
of the third module was used for clothes storage, if
you don’t already know, get on with the fiber con¬
tainers that bulk ice cream comes in. a lot of
places wash them out & give them away when empty,
great for holding clothes (or almost anything), we
don't use much clothing because it doesn’t seem to
make us happier or more at peace to have a lot or
a big variety, actually the effect is very much the
opposite, i guess if i wanted to spend a lot of time
caring, cleaning.?: nursing clothing, i’d have become
an English valet or a tuxedo-rental guy in Cleveland,
carol© just wants to simplify the supporting stuff
like clothing & really focus on study & development,
not a bad idea.

STQRAGE/ the fourth module was our Information Bank with
small cassette recorder, slides, books & papers, you
can notice there is a lot of uncommitted space in the
storage cells, if you are media-conditioned you will
tend to react strong negative to this, but if you
think a minute it's possible to realize that the
fashionable (tyrannical) idea of ''efficiency" &
"utilizing all the space" has such built-in disappoint¬
ments. say all your space was used '’perfectly," then
a friend gives you a packet of sewing needles but
there won't be anyplace to put them because by axiom
all, t lie space has already been exploited, the old
farmers knew that good living on earth was based on
careful use of their space but also maintainance of
a portion of it open & fallow for expansion, changes
or unforeseen happenings, the current societal notion
of efficiency as total consumption is unbelievable
& unliva.ble because it is so static.

LIBERATED SPACE /traditional furniture was never
organized as a whole system, the pieces were a bunch
of separate, unrelated objects determined by inertia
&. sentiment. feeble efforts were made to organize
them "visually" but that was just another trap,
the old culture has always tried to make the
unworkable endurable by overlaying it with
whichever "good taste" is going at the moment,
unfortunately this is like trying to make airplanes
look like birds, that never worked either, that's
because you can't make feathers out of aluminum.
Living Structures work with interpenetration of
spaces &. systematically, geometrically get more
performance from a. smaller array of components
in a more cohesive area, away from room walls they
aid circulation, movement & cleaning, one of the
most profound results of the Living Structure
synthesis is that it frees a larger part of the
space in any room for open & inventive uses,
you have room left over for tearing a motorbike down,
gallery-mounting pre-Columbia sculpture collections
or restoring great-grandma's Singer sewing machine,
in a traditional "living room" all these activities
would not fit in very well.

LIBERATION

BUILDING IT/ this Living Structure is real easy to fabricate -
it's just bigger than the 24’—Cube Module, the main skeleton
is made from universal members 48" long, the increase to 48
members will influence your lumber-picking techniques you
have to be a little more observant in selecting the 2x2's
at the yard because warping &. torquing distortions increase
in seriousness with longer pieces, length is critical, check
the raw pieces for actual length, cut length at different
mills varies between right on 96" & 96 1/4". those pieces
just over 8' enable you to clean each end

& to do the center-cut ending with two 48" pieces, this won' t
happen if you cut an exactly 96" piece into two parts
because about 1/16" gets converted (& lost) to sawdust &
your finals will be short, watch out for pieces which are
only 95 1/2" long, it makes waste not to check & know.

MEASUREfo ecau.se the 2x2 cross-section remains the same,
the pairs of holes at each end are located just like those
in the 24" cube, the additional holes allowing more
flexibility occur every 3". the best way to tool for
these is to mark with pencil the 3" intervals along each
of two adjacent faces of the 2x2, then use two locating
blocks nailed into the plywood baseboard under the
drill stand to position the piece so holes will be
for sure on the longitudinal centerline, the blocks
plus getting the mark under the drill every time will
result in good accuracy if you don't hurry & blow it,
you could eliminate this marking & jig that part of it
but the jig would get pretty complicated & time-consuming.

STIFF UPPER LlPJ try not to get funky &. fade doing these
holes, there are so many that a person just naturally wants
to quit them & go home to mother, it isn’t even that you
will use them all. all the time, it's just that when
you do need them they are dynamite, also if the holes
are consistent, it is truly a standard universal member
which can be placed anywhere in the structure.

UNIVERSALITY

MAKING THE PALLETS .’the pallets are made from 1/4"
Cardboard, sometimes it's called -Masonite" after one
of the earlier producing companies, it is a hard,
durable & dense reconstituted-wood product made from
fibers which are either waste from other cutting or
trees which a.re not suitable for dimension lumber or
plywood, avoid bargain hardboard & the superexpensive.
medium-priced stuff is good because it is a highly
competitive market, check out the stack yours comes
from to be sure it's been kept flat, sometimes the
piles are resting on 4x4' s or two rough skids &. the
crazy warps go right up through the pile, always
seek the material that has been stored indoors in
preference to that which is just under a shed roof
with open sides or completely in the open with poly
taped over it. look at the edges to make sure the
steel strapping used to bind the packs for shipping
hasn’t dented or chewed up the edge.

CUTTING HARDBOARD/ some of the resin binders & filler
materials used in this stuff are unmercifully hard on
tool edges but it does cut to a. fine precise edge,
if you are onto the handsaw use the fine flat section
Of the four-in-one wood rasp to smooth the tooth tracks
Out, then finish with block & sandpaper.

.F INISHING ;Firzite or boiled linseed oil is a good
sealer, dilute the oil with a slight (1/2 tsp. per
cup) amount of pure turpentine for penetration, be
sure to wipe off all excess oil . be mature & cool &
finish before assembly, sanding between coats, the
usual superhype script in our society is to bang out
the members & be in a hurry to assemble to see how
it hangs. then it's too much hassle to disassemble,
finish & re-erect, if you try to finish the skeleton
when it's together the sanding & sealing is not Com¬
plete on all surfaces & you get runs & drips, it's
like an adhesion of your interna.l organs, try to do
it. the adult way. taking these units up & down is
good for your head anyway, it makes you believe in
your own reality.

PALLETS

td-THC/SGtS-

M-i. UotES
fif PI*

2 * (! 7 4 >

Limit

Yx. r

Ottts&esJ be.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN UNIVERSITY
CUBE & OUR MATRIX/ one 48"-cube
module for the loft requires 12
universal members for the basic
skeleton, plus 4 or 6 more
depending on what you do inside
it. one additional member should
be used under the topside panel
to stiffen it. if you need a
48" module with the skin for a
study area, child's domain, at-
home office or privacy space,
there are some slight deviations
from the pieces used to make
the loft, the main difference
is the pair of 24" members
supporting the pallets at the
table level, these are used
instead of 48" members to allow
use of the foot hatch, it's
pretty neat to retain this
feature just in case somebody
wants to fall out & lie down,
good for a kid or an extra
visitor.

SPACER BLQCKS/ nOte the use of
the spacer blocks to insure
against the skins warping, this
is good to do no matter what
thickness plywood you use, to
keep the skins trim, because
the side skins are initially
bolted just to the vertical
skeleton members, the top &
bottom panel edges are un¬
supported & unbolted
unless the blocks are used.

±-

3“

3 M

“4"

3“

3 K

LU LiJ

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f ° An el

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sa¬

lH£

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MAKING THE SKIN /t.hi s drawing incorpor¬
ates all bolt-hole patterns & all hatch
dimensions, select from it for the com¬
bination yon need, evaluate plywood as
you would hardboard. see the stack it.
was in. check that it was under cover fc
flat, don't accept a piece with dinged
or shredded edges from bad handling,
the skins require full 48" squares,
try for grade A-C but check on A-D just
for price' sake, sometimes the D sides
aren't too bad. a few artistic knots
didn't stop the old Japanese & a.dded a
lot to what they did. 3/8" thick is fine
but you can use 1/2" for extra muscle,
avoid the lumberyard where the people
are on some kind of laissez-faire
fantasy trip in pricing, some yards are
amusing themselves putting up crazy
prices just to see how far they can go,

BOLTS, HOLES & HATCHES /use 4"-long bolts
to secure skin panels, countersinking
heads in faces ( see p. 93) . we put a
generalized hole pattern in the skins
so they'll fit anywhere, mark & lay out
these holes carefully, designing
flexibility does no good unless the making
is good, use master, clamping panels
together & do several at a time with the
drill stand, for layout you need a
long straight-edge & a good one. a
T-square or metal rule is fine,
yardsticks are no good & neither is
the wood-butcher's dream of jauntily
picking a semistraight piece of scrap
that happens to be nearby & drawing
along it. one good bet is to have a. friend
with a good table saw (fine-tooth blade)
cut a 3"x60 r ' piece of hardboard perfectly
straight, don't sand it a lot & make
it curvy.

MOTE /with this new configuration

we have more liberated floor space at the

% I V f k A # V ■ A A 4 ^ A • * , g ■ 9 I • _ . a 9^ 9 1 * ■ | • •

open end of the room., you can make a loft,
with two modules or three (in line or
in an L shape) 'then add to it later

carolo's
new eagl6i&
nest study:

below it
:toe
reading:

CHANGE/ a ooiipletK
of months ft)a:ck ‘K
we.decide dvfo
alter the ■ : v{

relationship pf.-»
t-hip; mo dul e'.S;.
piifyMat rij*.
it:oniy. : :tpdji:

madiiie.

CUT PARTS/

Matrix, pallet
rails & overhead
support & ladder
pallet beams
pallet limit blocks

70 pcs. 2x2 x48 (univ. members!

32 pcs . 2"x2"x44 3/4"

32 pcs. 2"x2'xll 7/8"

4 pcs. 2''x2"x9 3/4 1 ' ladder (steps)

8 pcs. 1/2''x48"x48" DFPw. panels

16 pcs, l/4"x 11 7/8"x44 3/4" hdbd.

pallets

MATERIALS LIST

HARDWARE/

120 pcs. l/4"-20x3 l/2"flthd. bits. basic cube joints.

cube to cube, ladder

28 pcs. l/4"-20x2 1/2" flthd. bits, panels to Matrix
64 pcs. 1/4"—20x3" flthd. bits. pallets-hdbd. to

2x2 1 s

12 pcs. l/4"-20x4" flthd. bits. panels to Matrix

224 pcs. l/4"-20 hex nuts all bolts

224 pcs. 5/16" fit. wash, all bolts

224 pcs. 1/4” Split-Spring Lock

Washers all bolts

12 pcs. l"-diameter furniture

glides, with nail bottoms (verticals)

(Domes of Silence)

> r

CHANGES .’’ever.y morning for the last Six hundred
days or so carole & i have awakened to a new
& different kind of world, we have been joined
by another person, full-fledged, intelligent
& active, all my life i' ve thought in some
Calvinistic, Baptist way with a quasi-scientific
twist that "yes, it is necessary to explore
the possibilities of genetic combinations
blah, blah, blah." supercool didn’t prepare
me for the wonder of the benign explosion
which was the entry of joshua henry isaacs
into our collective life, i tended to think
of abstract reasons for rearing children making
it worth the hassle, the awesome truth is that
it's some experience, like having some exotic
stranger come for a long visit, it's the one
life experience i've found impossible to take
for granted even after all this time, no ego trip
like’the old-fashioned world but more like
watching a beautiful little peach tree grow,
the only ego thing involved is watching
reinterpreted echoes of your own behavior
& attitudes appear in this midget like the
reverb from some mighty speaker in the sky
driven by the DNA spiral, sometimes this is OK
but sometimes it makes you cringe & hope for
the best.

CRISIS & THE -SHOEMAKER’S CHILD .'we were working
pretty steady at the university & in
Groveland when josh henry was little so we
couldn't seem to get centered on designing &
fabricating a Structure for him. i think
part of my holdout was rooted in the fact that
i had never been around little kids & was
uncertain of the parameters, most of my knowledge
of babies was derived from watching old movies
on television, we were also moving around a lot
so he ended up in a simple, clean, white,

Shakeresque room in the Chicago apartment which
carole fixed for him. his tools (toys) were nicely
organized & he slept at first in a folding
cloth thing with a metal frame, in the movies
i'd watched they never grow much but in real life
it's like God is blowing up a balloon, so he was
soon too big for that thing, carole was already
making drnwings of a Living Structure for him
but i still couldn't get focused on starting
actual building, trouble in eden. one day
i found myself in a suburban department store
hallucinating carole asking the lady if she
could buy a crib, this immediately induced
hyperventilation in my system & i got ready
to demonstrate new audio highs for the very proper
audience of clerks & matrons, together we managed
a fair Wagnerian racket.

RESOLUTION /carole is funny, at some human points
she becomes a rock with the power of speech,
she calmly said that the kid’s head was going to be
flat on top (or if we were lucky, slightly geodesic)
unless he got a bigger place to sleep, she really
understands motivation technology, there was
no other choice though, so we got the nifty
crib & it hung there for quite a while like the
albatross, a reminder of a monstrous negative act.
it sure got us on for his Structure though.

mmmwm

PARTICULARS/this Structure is made of two 36" cubes
with 2x£ skeletons, one is for activities & the other
for relaxation & renewal, the activity one has a
table & a sliding bench which he can adjust, both can
be moved vertically as his size changes, the table
can be used from outside the structure with a. free
cube as chair, he can also integrate a friend in
this way

DESIGN/ so carole designed.it & i helped a little.

% she used Living Structure principles & based it on
& the Unit, or Cell. Matrix, this just means that

^ each division is like a body cell, an indivisible
functioning unit which combines in various ways
fcith other cells to make a whole system.

sometimes we can share
a meal with him at his
table rather than
assuming he always'
c.omos to ours,
tba-t's important.

UIET CUBE ,'the relaxation part is closed on two
; by painted hardboard panels & on the third side
h a chalkboard panel. the fourth side is sealed
natural plywood with a round hatch .for entry &.
exit, top is open because too much separa¬
tion is negative, a square foam mat
covers the hardboard bottom k v, r e
use little contour sheets his
K> r grandfather made for him.

Xvfcfr>. • the alternative to this

iv. might be

cover* s nostf?
i an envelope
with one side
:v. ooen. the

' jXy. isolation of
.. ‘•■\v the four topside

bones makes them
sfe ygreat grippers for
ygjjVexerpising &

{fi'" teething.

MOBILITY ,'the bottom sleeping mat can be put in
any of six positions so you can start
with a newborn kid near the top & lower
it as he grows the working portion of the
Structure is covered on top by a hardboard
panel with a naugahy.de scrap cemented to it.,
v;e use this to perform the routine maintainanoo
operations on the little man. he gets his filters
checked & oil changes here, he looks good sitting
- up there after a bath in a towel,

like a crazy, friendly nomad,
this table plane also
gives him a roof for
' his w 0 rk area & that

completes his house'.

the hardboard bench &
table are simply waxed
& rubbed down by

.v.y.y .'.v,*. v, V . V * V. Vwv- - .■

lllplilli

pH.- ■ JMMi

STORAGE /the 16'-Panel Matrix (p. 57).
here is a major life-support
device & it completes the Living
Structure, it is used as a. sorting &
storage Matrix, there’s much talk on
storage but not'enough about "sorting,"
which seems so fundamental to survive,
without the developed ability to sort
& differentiate, organization is very
difficult, the six lower cells, are. most,
accessible to josh & no specific
consistency is expected because it is
the-principle of sorting which is;so .
important as he grows he: sv.i 1.1 lay on
his own levels of patterning, oarole
uses the top three cells for out-of--reach
-stuff. he : do.esn’t seem frustrated.

WHERE TO-PUT IT/ a 1 though our
original plans called for the two
cubes tc be bolted together in use,
we. found they worked better as .
free individual units, this allows
josh or us to change the relation¬
ships & expand their uses, try
to avoid jamming them against a
wall or into a corner because
that wrecks your freedom o;f
movement around them & makes it

B ^ ^ * * • ■ ■ ■ ( •!•••• •• •• • • H

difficult: to clean the room.

AUTONQMY/ what we're trying, to get
into with the Living Structures for
kids is close, unobtrusive observation
that attempts t.o have a worm in the
vicinity when baby bird is awake, if
you never get to exercise powers of
judgment & 'discrimination as you
grow, no one can expect magic
matureness just because your hair
is gray. v.

LIBERTY /we thought it was major to supply josh
with equipment & information in a way & quantity
responsive to his own clock in processing it. wh
you think about what you see around and in
yourself, it seems that many life problems
are resultants of kids being held back & never
getting enough extension of their faculties. th<
culture with its usual finesse observes this

( ■ - i • , <• _ 0 B f C ® 1 " . • • i • • I 1 • • * * t * ®

in eccentric ways when

parents archly play ^KBP** 9 ™ 9 ***

a day in the crib, this

is paten 1 .1 y craz i a

child is not a goose to

be stuffed, this prodigy V.

packing gets you a *A V ,

twenty-year-old with 'an-' .

enlarged liver who is JB. _.... ■■ Y&-. -v'"’"”"

afraid to go out With 4’ £

women. Bv-9

the entry hatch .with'
cover is an example
of the opporturnt.y
for autonomy.

C'So 1 EE UOJ6
w C.CEJO

Liwn- blocks v ;
?.*.=. *9 '■' 1

fa *'&*&
7i'C£BP(WtlDEP5

cube, but they are assembled using
l/4"-20x2 1/2" hexagonal-head bolts
& have a secondary hole pattern
on 6" centers, it's a good tactile
safety idea to put a 1/4" radius
(rounded corners) on the long
edges of the members, we do this
with a high-rpm shaper (see p. 7) ,
but you can do it with pa.tience,
a good eye & the fine side of the
four-in-one rasp, don't hurry,
it'll build your character, don't

do this to the short edges,

CLOSED

14"

SAW GUIDE

STACKED WASHERS

V+" *

l\x“

CM*\P

BEAM COMPASS

-v^> -5WtO- 3- plX uo. C3Lt*S.

V+ 4-

OoUl^P 1 ToliOT

I —

•SIDE. -S^WjPt^EL

4" ME* UD. ecr —

(HEAD ©<y^

tr <

* L "

coPiOEe. TTO'vjr

tSf-TE. UA'SHEfc.S

Oto c'eape-^i -ppE-VEut-.
W DB'Cl t*JU-tfc}& tH«J
WU&m UCt ^3
T^wreii e:t>.

DE. SKIKj T^LE-L-
tC 0&£TICAL <3ULV

*“ elt. wd. e«=L.r

CUESlO \m- 54 ee')
Cv^CKXt >iOT^

MATERIALS LIST

cut parts ;

37 pcs. 2 , 'x2' , x36” (univ. members)

2 pcs. 2"x2"x9"

2 pcs. 2 H x2’x5"

4 pcs. l/4"x36"x36" hdbd

1 pc. 3/8' , x36"x36" DPFw .
1 pc . 1/4"x26"x36" DFPw .
1 pc. 1/4"x16"x33" hdbd.
1 pc . 1/4"x9''x36" hdbd .

two Matrix cells, rails,
table support, bed sup¬
port. seat & overhead
panel support.
seat limit blocks
table clamp blocks
top panels (active area)
side panels (rest area)
bed panel

access panel (rest}

table

seat

HARDWARE/

41 pcs.
30 pcs,

2 pcs.

6 pcs.
73 pcs.

l/4"-20x2 1/2” hx. hd. bits
l/4''-20x3" flthd. bits.
l/4"-20x4" hx. hd. bits.
l/4"-20x2" flthd. bits.
l/4"-20 hex nuts

6 pcs. 1/4"-20 cap (acorn) nuts
120 pcs. 5/16" fit. wash.

79 pcs. 1/4" Split-Spring Lock Washers
2 pcs. 2" back flap hinges (loose
pin) with fasteners
8 pcs. l"-diameter furniture glides,
with nail (Domes of Silence)

2x2 to 2x2
panel to 2x2
2x2 table clamp
access panel to 2x2
all bolts (except
access panel)
access to panel 2x2
all bolts
all bolts

bottom (verticals)

MISCELLANEOUS/

clear Firzite

blackboard paint
acrylic enamel
36"x36’' naugahyde & adhesive
3”x36"x36'' foam mat

finish members & access
panel
panels
panels
panels

COUNTERBQRING /this unit is intended primarily
for children so we counterbored some of the
bolt holes, this means taking a 7/8" speed bit
& drilling no more than 1/2 1 ' deep before doing
• the 5/16" hole, this prevents the 2 1/2" long bolt
from projecting past the 2x2 faces, we have ap¬
plied this to some of the other Living Struct¬
ures & you may want to follow suit, the main
negative is that it specializes your members
into rights Sc lefts so they are standard mem¬
bers rather than universal ones.

WjVjZ

mm.

zmm

wM$i

WORKROOM; IK CHICAGO ,! abeled
e/,g;b6xe$:-foT sto'c-age -(.on right ;

d/for drpwiiig,.:.-

t;;pingy:-MPdels & paper handl isg;
:CPi>^iet:ely^arr.oi)nded by.;

'.vailsi--

STORAGE MORALITY Sc LOGIC/ it's a big one. 1 guess
the condition that drives most storage fanatics is
the fact that production & merchandising have
become our religion in the last thirty years, most of
us have a real warehousing problem because we are
the pampered recipients of a flood of things
allegedly developed to

make us happier, we are now beginning to tumble
to the queasy paradox that this proposition
sounded great in theory but worked like a lead
surfboard in practice, every new acquisition just
loads us down with more obligations & expenses in
time & productive effort, it's become evident
that this is a crusher, leaving little time for
inventive work & the individual search for peace
of mind.

LIVING STRUCTURES & STORAGE, 'this conditioning
sometimes leads people to wonder why my structures
don't include superstorage, it seems marginal or
improvised to them, after all, the guy's wife has
twenty-three pairs of shoes & boots for several different
outdoor role-taking shots, my thoughts on the
quicksand of products & services hinge around
using such offerings very selectively, that’s the
key word, the old-fashioned world wasn't perfect,
there were wonderful aspects of simplicity which
we can observe & apply in ways appropriate to our
context but there were some strong negatives, if
only we could have entered the twentieth century with
a. head-set of objectivity & selectivity toward the
developments of high technology, instead we put
all the basic-information research insights &
spinoffs in the service of a manic, primitive,
ego-tripping, anxiety-ridden scarcity psychosis
that was showing massive fractures even before the
social critiques of the mid-lSOO’s. if our
society had been more conscious & hip in ways to
join & nurture evolution we might have avoided
some of the pain & hurt of that whole era.

STUCK WITH STUFF /it’s the nightmare of the sorcerer's
apprentice with stuff flooding Sc distorting our lives
& feelings, all the things that we are engagingly
assured we "need" truly answer no fundamental cry
from the soul or murmur of discomfort from the body
but are an attack of collective mania like the dancing
cults of the Middle Ages, the only resolution is to
use less, consume less, have less in your field of
action, this will heighten the significance & the
enjoyment of what you have & give the same sort of
peace that exercise outdoors gives the body.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's rich boys
were bored & sated because
they had everything, witty
& humane Lincoln was excited
by mildewed law books & fire¬
light vented through a cla.y
chimney.

On’ *1 Juiia Struaun"'

EGG CARTONS/ even if you try to
wear life like a loose garment
you build a surplus, work, time
& friends contribute, some of
this is rare information & some
has talismanic importance in a
human way. some objects like
tools we conserve against the
time when we can recycle them,
so we discovered the egg carton

supermarkets, restaurants &
TEtj hotels get eggs in these great
-• cartons, they measure 12” wide

x 24" long x 11" deep, what dimensions! not since
the Periclean press conference & the announcement of
the discovery of the Golden Section have such
proportions been laid on us mortals, they hold file
folders. papers & magazines, slides, toys, folded
off-season clothing, tools &. volley balls, they can
stack four high with stability & have neat holes cut
in each end for handles when lifting.

NEW STORAGE MATK-LX/ despite
the beauty, of the egg carton
i am not an absolute animal,
a lot of thought & work
has been given to the *

development of storage -jo

systems which relate to
Living Structures & are '•
supportive of their
system!ng.y

STRESSED PANELS/ the first ###

great switch in structural
concept was the use of the
universal member, the second
was to tfi^/.Pahel Mci-t'rix... •0j/ i

that means changing from
linear.menrbetis/to the use M

of stresrisrisa'^j^'.^vi^'i^''-'
p 1 y ra gins these *&/.

arc still distributed on
a j&b■ space, grid. i laid v®J

the theory h- - for this . W

in the beginning, the late %

1940's, despite leaving a
trail, of people with bent ears ffl
in my wake all. that time,. 1 v

hadn’t really built much using
this principle purely. the gain 5
wa-S:'T5.bvlo.u's. plywood is a,,
strong.material with equal'i-Si^';';.-'
strength due to the overlapping
layers,, it as really durable.

DODECAHEDRON BREAKOUT /that
summer of the many changes
i worked on a 65" dodecahedron
chamber with photo images inside,
it was made of light plywood
without lumber framing & joined
by modified angle clips with
stove bolts, we started clipping
panels together in 1962 when jim
built an early 48" Microhouse
with turrets in a little timber
ravine at Grove land. but that
was made of 3/4" plywood so it
was far too heavy to produce the
advantages of diaphragm structure

the dodecahedron was good, the
structure was light, quick &
direct to make & forgiving in
assembly.(panels were easy to bolt
together. ) no hassles if the
plywood warped a little, it all
just straightened out & fell
together, it was another new

ELIMINATION-OF FRAMING /sxt.ra W//&

Complications caused by having both tiffi'/.
covering panels & framing lumber in vjjKjj
a structure are tyrannical. cost
& fabrication difficulties are 7

increased & units are harder to
take down & move, changing, to the
stressed panels simplifies the process
considerably &. makes beautiful structures

FURTHER PROOF/in the spring of 1971 we built three
prototypes of the 8' Microhouse using the
stressed-load carrying-skin method & no framing,
during the first test assembly i got up on the
sleeping surface, it was 3/8" plywood slightly
less than 48" square, clipped to vertical panels
around the edge, what a neat confirmation! it
had full structural integrity with the resiliency
of the rigging on a racing sailboat.

IDEAS ON "SORTING" 'the other component in the gen¬
eral context that nurtured the development of the
Infinite Storage System was from the past- i was
in childhood riding down a dusty Illinois country
road with Aunt. Helen, she radiated good humor,
generosity & Baptist theology in r.oughly equal
amounts- she is something even now. we were on
the way to a little town called Fancy Prairie to
Gene Baugher's general store, even a sortie to
the general store was exotic in those preconsump¬
tion days, about equal to jetting to Xanadu from
the yurt country, but a big part of the charge was
that the store was also the post office, the
main event there was an unbelievable wall grid of
compartments each with its own brass door, lock
& small glass pane, the deep interest was in the
order involved here & i think it relates to ideas
years later about the concept of "sorting" physical

objects.

MYSTERIES OF THE WESTERN MIND /these considerations
led to the realization that we are stalled with
fanatical linear constructs in our minds yet these
compartmentalizations are so limiting, they kill
inventiveness & play in thought, at the same time
it seemed we haven't pursued at all the very real
sorting benefits of highly disciplined Aristotelian
categorization in the storage of our
artifacts, what a paradox, we use restrictive
methods in thought & give our objects freedom,
i decided to work on a new Storage Matrix.

PROTOTYPING THE INFINITE STORAGE SYSTEM/ so chuck &
lou came to Groveland that first summer &. we put
together the first production on a 16“-Panel Matrix,
we didn’t have too much money so we got some 1/4" ply¬
wood out of joe's old bread truck storage, it
was exterior so it was generally sound except for the
work of the field mice & the big black ants, on any
country place you discover new colleagues in the race
for survival, the mice have large brown eyes & the
destructive abilities of Genghis Khan on amphetamines,
the black ants are big &. tough &. would eat a Cadillac
Eldorado if they thought it was wood.

THE 16" GRlD /anyway, we felt lucky to have some sheets
of this so we worked out an ideal 100 per cent consistent
grid pattern partially based on the reality that the
actual panel size of 15 3/4"xl5 3/4" would cut good
out of 4’x8'' plywood, i call the grid ’'consistent"
because it can be filled in any or all of the three
main directions in space without problems or compro¬
mise (or special unresolved conditions) just by
adding the one-size, one-drilling-pattern universal

panel.

CONNECTORS & ASSEMBLY

ORDERING MATERIALS/ i t' s difficult to g.ive direc¬
tions for buying with this system because every¬
one wants something different in size or shape,
but since a three-cube tower can be built from one
4'x8' sheet of plywood (with two panels left over),
i suggest you get started by doing that, the
order list below will set you up for it.

MATERIALS & HARDWARE /

1 pc . l/4"x48''x96" DFPw .

120 pcs. l/2''xl''xl" Stanley corner

angles

120 pcs. 10-24x3/4" rndhd. bits.

120 pcs. 10-24 hex nuts
72 pcs. 10-24 fit. wash.

120 pcs. 10-24 "Star" lock washers
4 pcs. T-diameter threaded-shank
furniture glides

MATERIALS

panels (plus 2
spares)

connections
connections
connections
under bolt
heads (outside)
all bolts

bottom panel

STACKS/ 1 we use these stressed panels a lot in

verticals, you get maximum storage

per floor area occupied, one 16'

square on the floor produces over

14.000 cubic inches for storage, we

did it for a film group in New York City.

people ,

WwjWiWiA

• » «•

■mm

some of our ..

early assemblies

had square holes

with radiused

corners but we

found it r »•;•.:•. r*<i

1 or. r-d r a wn- ou ♦ • ^/V

cutting operations ‘

carole has a fine •. ^'rHSwMr!^

Sears saber saw with '

an accurate radius-bar '

accessory, so we now use '

the circle for access' it's a cinch to

cut & low anxiety in fabrication is tru

beautiful, it seems more fulfilling to

make a simple object with great fidelit

instead of a gradiose one'{every aspect

of which is below one's expectations').

-standing u
g of an ent
ked down fo
els are a p.

THE ARTICULATED LIGHT BULB /most of the
supports for electric bulbs are heaVy
romanticism & tradition. Living
Structures require a durable inexpen¬
sive mounting for lighting which puts
the light right where needed with
great simplicity, this support adapts
to many different situations & the
simple articulation allows movement
& change of position at will, this
construction is described on pp. 64-61
by putting a hole in the exact center
of each panel in the Infinite Storage
System the ALB can be mounted almost
anywhere on it it can also be
fixed to the side or back panel
of the chair.

CHUCK

CHUCK’S CHAlR /the Panel Matrix
& the clips worked so well
in the Infinite Storage System
that we expanded the structural
idea to a 24" space grid & made
a chair, i call it chuck's ^
chair because he seemed A I

to have some special
relationship to it
from the first moment
the raw prototype was
assembled at Groveland
in the old shop, he
just liked it the
way you like 0

puppy or a young : y.i

colt, that's a

good kind of -?>-

feeling. - jjm

"furniture""functions j\ :£:£
as possible to

movable chair or two. \ 1

you might want to move one

nearer a window to watch a £ZA

squirrel or a storm, two

chairs form an alternative node

for conversation & let you break out of the

structured situation of the Living Structure.

we built this chair as that kind of alternative

FUNCTION & OPTIONS/ the plywood is 3/8/
& pretty resilient to sit on but you
will probably want to throw a pillow
or a rug In it to make it softer,
i like sheepskins but find it hard
from the sheep’s point of view, it
works with slab foam cushions too.
you can use Dome-of-Silence furn¬
iture glides in the bottom panel but
i think the little metal tetrahedrons
make more sense, they broaden the
base & provide greater stability,
if you really need to save space or
have problems getting the welding
done just use the glides, the slot
front & back is for ease of assembly
(later used to store books).

we even put some of these on casters for some

guys in New York City so you can just roll around using

feet for propulsion.

Vtub*. L-

pLHWooC-.

MATERIALS LIST

CUT PARTS/

5 pcs . 3/8"x23 5/8'x23 5/8" DFPw . panels

2 pcs. 3/8"x8 3/8"x23 5/8" DFPw. front & seat beam

4 pcs. 3/4"x3"-diameter DFPw.

HARDWARE/

29 pcs. l/2"xl' r xl" Stanley corner

angles

29 pcs. 10-24x3/4" rhd. bits.

29 pcs. 10-24 hex nuts
29 pcs. 10-24 "Star 11 lk. wash.

4 pcs. l/4"-20xl" flthd. bits.

24 pcs. 5/16"x8" cold rolled
steel rod

1 pc. 3/16"xl''x4" sheet steel
16 pcs. 5/16" nylon wire retainers

connectors
connectors
all bolts
all bolts
feet to legs

legs

feet to legs
legs to panels

UMms. eie.'tMO&tx.
CSUAcfc. KOMtJbKO?
uss. 4- ^ -rex.

16/3 SJ cord

3/8 "-rfl i a metfrj*'/'.
ftGiijid aluaiiiytttf
rod (sort)■

3/8i-.b.ai 1 s'lijf^v'-/
with tfiuiabsdrew

socket

socket clasp

reflector flood lamp

ARTICULATED

°. 1 ft 'major part .o f t he move

ed b y

lighting.- although there are several '' v '

S§S?S^S r,v s - marked

..5mith 7 yi.<;.tdr yy the machining'-^viildtin fr-S-
are bet tagv/.- •■'■-• ■ :

1 as *' this el iifr&at&

,, -J? eed for a shade;: these are railed
refleol^ar..-W;pd4ylaiBp55. '‘/iarcj^are std-res:‘-‘. -v-\
have them, the raofc&yfcjfes

with smaller sizes .i^O & 5.0 .•.vv>;

larger wattages are not operational because
the addi tional hea,ty.frll 1 insulatldncv

& c a.u.se e 1 e c t r i ca 1 mal f u nc t i^pyyyi t' s a

safety problem, bear firmly in mind that
a ll baits &

thumbscrew & bolt holding the pivot block c
in P lace must be ti ght at all .times id-•icv.-v^
prevent dangerous breakage should the
assembly pivot & hit the floor, do not
Omit the rubber friction piece

F lNISHING /polish the aluminum rod with fine
emery cloth & steel wool (linear motion onlv)

SOCKET/this is kind of a special socket so if your
hardware man doesn't have it try an electrical
supply house. do not substitute another socket
because this one is covered in heavy rubber &
has proved safe in practice for use with the very
intense reflector flood bulbs, ask for it as a
"rubber push socket. No. 161, made by Rodale." the plug
used is a black rubber industrial plug called
"rubber cord, grip cap, black, 15 amp, 125 volts,"
made by Hubbell.

ELECTRIC CORD, 'the number specifications for the
cord just mean get 16-gauge, 3-wire cord,
because triple wire is becoming standard now.
if you are unfamiliar with wiring get a little
on-the-spot advice from the electric supply
people but don't fool around, do it carefully,
we use 10' of wire on every ALB.

APPLICATlONS/ the ALB can be used with any Living
Structure or piece of equipment in this book,
existing holes may be used or a modular hole
can be added as in the Infinite Storage System,
for children's use it may be good to double the
pivot blocks & immobilize the pivot so the kids
avoid accidents.

PIVOT BLOCK /this is just a 3 1/2" square sawed from a
2x4 with holes drilled for the aluminum rod, cord
& the 1/4" hex-head mounting bolt, drill 3/8" holes
for rod & cord, note that the rod is a force fit
with a 1 12" length of clear vinyl tubing slipped
on the rod to secure it fas the wood wears & the hole
enlarges), finish with clear Firzite, sanding
between coats to make a beautiful piece of wood.

FRICTION PIECE/ cut a 1 1/2" square from an old car
inner tube & drill a 1/4” hole in it. make sure it’s
clean & always use it for safety reasons,
also use a lock washer under the nut on the
mounting bolt to prevent its loosening up.

M ICRO DORM g /i'5 a Living Structure of great simplicity
made from 3/8

Stressed-skin plywood panels. there is
no framing & only one universal panel

M mostly for kids

. fr.p-iTi four or five on but that depends on the kid
: :■:/ any kid-adult can use it, whatever the age.

you blow up
the 16" Matrix
of the Infinite: : ; •

Storage System to
36" you have the ^

Microdorm 2. it is
assembled with the
same metal angle clips,
the corners are cut to
form triangles in the
same way & the panels can
be assembled in different
Combinations to fit various
situations.

j iii-h: n: - th g. •

su rifitc 6
£$$&: i s ■ t he table
s-i'iJ-i* sege: ics ■;. •..

S.i;U’ejy; ;w 5 ith’.-ftfji"fee'-.'';-';■ \!;
to inside &

HOW MICRODQRM 2 GOT BUILT /one da.y in 1963’i went
to the Groveland post office box & found a letter
from a guy at the University of Chicago, he was
a psychiatrist for children St was doing some work
with handicapped children for a government agency,
he had heard of Living Structures 8c thought they
might have meaning for kids in the state-care
situations, his response was strong to my idea
that new evolutionary equipment could support &
aid the individual in highly positive ways, it
was apparent to him that old-fashioned furniture
just didn ’ t do it.

SUPERFICIAL NEATNESS 8c HEAD BEDLAM /'the doctor told
me some eighteenth-century demi-horror stories about
the way the hospitals were functioning equipped with
traditional furniture, expensive hospital-type
beds (negative & alienating to the kids) which had
to be "made" in the morning so when the afternoon
rest period came there was no place to lie down
(that didn't mess up the bed) . so they ended by
lying on the floor under the beds, the large ward¬
like rooms apparently had the usual hospital kind
of small metal cabinet at the head of the beds,
these didn't offer any storage for projects that
kids like to do, also there was no individual or
adequate work space for building models or study,
all in all it sounded like a great factory for
ensuring a plentiful supply of institutionalized
wards of the state.

WASTE/ the situation with these children was so
poignant because they just had a slight edge taken
off their abilities & it seemed possible that with
the right kind of nurture they could develop,
become independent & live pretty much like anyone
else, it wasn't difficult to respond to this
situation because it was a classic example of
waste of resources, human & physical, it just
didn't make sense.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DESIGN ,.'when i first started
working, after discovering the Matrix Idea, i used
a very general, comprehensive, statistical program
to explore many configurations & use-patterns of the
Living Structures, the ground was pretty well
covered. Microdorm 2 'was a part of a process grow¬
ing from some early work, the Living Structure for
the kids was a stage of that process, we worked out a unit
with work space, seating-lounging & study, clothing,
storage & the usual high bed (which eased another
problem of conflict growing out of other kids
sitting on your bed & wrecking it) . all these were
supplied on an individual basis to cool the friction
of interpenetrating actions, if we use territory
intelligently, sharing can come forth as a natural
result of peace of mind, old-fashioned design
forced sharing & that won’t make it now. one of
the best possibilities of the unit was a panel
system, integral, to give some privacy to the
individual, we even developed a procedure to
supply fabricated 2x2 ’ s & let the kids finish &
assemble them, with this kind of real accomplish¬
ment the project began to sound like real life,

PROBLEM

MOMENTARY DEFEAT ,''we let lack of funds defeat us.
the state refused funds for such an "experimental"
project & the foundations were unmoved by the
doctor's lyrical logic about the Matrix & territory,
i always felt very negative about it but we
couldn't buy materials for the fifty prototypes
they wanted to try it out.

but the configuration & the idea survived in
this new design for Microdorm 2 & maybe we can
do some good things with it now.

SLEEPING & HANGING OUT/ on a foam mat
on the topside panels, rails are
easy to bend of 1/2* thin-wall electrical
conduit using a hand bender, they're
safe for bouncing kids & are nice to
prop a pillow against, you climb
up on the left end.

aaron

backs

STUDY AREA/ the panel forming
the bottom of the study has
a 12" round hole for feet to
go through- so you can sit
at the table, it is adjust¬
able for growth with clamping
members, two people can use
the table (one inside & one
outside sea.ted on a free
cube) .

CUTTING THE PANELS /use 3/8"

Douglas fir plywood (A-C faces,),
the eleven panels are all
35 5/8" square & can be gang-
cut two or three at a time with a
portable electric saw & care,
lay out master panel & stack
securely, clamp with at least
two C-clamps. guide saw
against hardboard straightedge
that is also clamped securely
to pile, don’t hurry.

DOING THE LARGE HOLES/ mark
them all before nipping off
45-degree corners because you
locate them in terms of the
diagonal of the whole panel.
most good saber saws now come
with a radius bar for cutting
round holes, this is a very
precise way of doing it. sharp
point at end of bar presses
into wood & you just push sa.w
around the circle, use the
straightedge on the table hole.

HOLES FOR ANGLE CLIPS, 'lay out
supercareful master panel &
gang-drill three blanks at a time
with electric drill in stand,
clamp pile securely, these
holes are critical for good
assembly & strength of the
final structure.

MATERIALS

pcs.

3/8"x35 5/8"x35 5/8" DFPw .

panels

120

PCS .

l/2' r xl"xl" Stanley Corner

Angles

connections

240

pcs.

10-24x3/4" rnd. hd . bits.

connections

240

pcs.

fit. wash.

connections

240

pcs .

hex nuts

connections

240

pcs .

"Star' 1 lock washers

connections

pcs.

2 J, x2"x30"

clamp beams

pcs.

2'x2"x4"

blocks

pcs.

l/4"-20x3’'hex. hd. bits.

clamp beams

pcs.

5/16"x8* cold rolled
stl. rod

legs

pc.

3/16"xl"x4" sheet stl.

feet to legs

pcs .

l/4"-20xl“ fit, hd. bits,

feet to legs

pcs .

3/4''x3" dia. DFPw. discs

feet

pcs .

5/16" nylon wire retainers

legs to panels

pc ,

1/2" dia. x 5' EMT conduit

safety rail

pc.

1/2" dia. x 10' EMT conduit

safety rail

pcs.

1 l/2"x3 l/2"x3 1/2" wood blocks

safety rail

pcs ,

1/4 "-20x 1 l/2"f lthd . bits.

•

safety rail
blocks to
panels

STUDY

RAILS

RAIL BLOCKS .-make them 3 VZ" square
(•2x4 stock), with a hole to fit conduit
&. a 1.4" hole for mounting bolt, bend
conduit so horizontal portion is IQ'' aboye
top panel.. clamp in position Sc use block
as guide t-o. drill; fhcoiigh. nail,
form
already

you^ may-;wanf;:t ; ate : : : ^

& lengthen ve-r^ica-l' .t&cf: '
of long rail - this v i 11
make it more secure, if
kid is little add a middle
step of conduit midway
between the two steps
shown.

FINISHING/ i think this Structure is really
beautiful with most of the panels done
natural (multiple coats of Firzite with
fine sa.nding between ). but the two blank
panels would be great in blackboard paint,
the one by the study might be blackboard
inside & out , don't forget information.

VARIATIONS^ i gge r, .

people fit on & J

in Micro dorm 2.

vicky is tall but /at

she curled right in 1 wMl

the study, keep in

mind, that you oan

vary the relation--. • v

ship & pos-i t i

the panels., -the table $*'.vw|
could be on a 1 on£$i<3e'•'
with - the study tfa //.-/*
on an- end, fo r insta^athh';.'.'^
or four cells could bevvi:-/.'vv.'.;k
Matrixed together to. form
a large square sleeping
surface on top with two
studies & two storage modules
below, community & privacy
for two persons.

NOTE/ tetrahedrons
are same as those
used on chuck's
chair (pp. 61-63]
welded or brazed
5/16" rod with a
1/8“ metal plate
to bolt puck onto

BIGGER KIDS

FUN HOUSE

GENESIS/i designed the grandfather of this structure
a long time ago when i began to discover that there
might be some hope for an effort to put together a
bunch of whole-system shelters that would offer some
real human & ecological advantage, there were sev¬
eral components & events in my experience which set
up the result .

MOBILISM/ 'i r d been analytically working out with an
old friend named dan a new life style we were
calling "mobilism. " it involved paring your idea of
"house” down to the simple, painful minimum & put¬
ting one unit on the East Coast, one in the Midwest
& one in northern California, each unit was to be
simple, superdurable like an anvil & casual about
complicating factors like insulation & middle-class
weatherproofing, the three locations allowed some
compensation for this simplicity by letting you
follow the benign weather as it occurred in each
area rather than overbuilding only one shelter de¬
termined by the worst weather encountered in just
one place, our individual head-reasons for these
projections were pretty interesting, i was moved
by warm climate & traveling, but the best hook for
me was that this scheme fitted my hope & fantasy
of beating the system, it was early nomadics.
moving like a desert man over the land without
subscribing to what seemed like antilife nonsense
of thirty-five years of mortgages & time clocks, dan's
thoughts had even a more compelling base, what
could be more bravely human & appropriate than a
guy in a wheelchair working out a life of movement? he
got polio in the Navy & was left with a remnant
10 per cent opposable thumb fortunately buttressed
with a fine far-ranging mind & a truckload of guts,
he did anthropology & hung on to bang out of the
Congo with a van full of precious woodcarvings a
fev; hours ahead of Belgian mercenaries in that era
when Patrice Lumumba was tossed in the ditch, i miss
his company, i think he’s out in Davis doing some¬
thing academic & making citizens crazy by looking
slightly like a merry Lenin who made it.

OFF THE SHELF /about this time i started to wonder if
the kind of unit i spoke about to dan might be built
of three or four simple existing components by assigning
them new uses to build a shelter system without
starting from ground zero in terms of fabrication,
it seemed this approach would make new systems really
accessible to more people at less cost with more
personal involvement, since they would do assembly.

CHOOSING CQMPONENTS/ i was working for a guy putting
hydraulic dump bodies on grain trucks & the flat bed
we used was great; industrially produced with a
steel channel underframe & edge, supporting heavy
2" timbers for the bottom, i worked out a system of
horizontal planes on various levels supported by
vertical utility poles on a modular grid, the whole
structure had a barnlike roof (from hitching through
Pennsylvania) & wind-rain panels at strategic points,
i'd dream of crawling out of a sleeping bag on one
of the high platforms into the sunrise & washing up
with the breeze drying my skin; a primate in his
Platonic tree.

FURTHER ON/ i didn't get to build that one but later
i translated the idea into 2x2 ’ s because i got on to
lightness & demountability by then, no foundations,
just tension members & canvas roofing, that was the
father in the series, the last one is here, indelibly
labeled "the Fun House" by an ingratiating magazine
editor who persisted in saying "far out" when he
meant "how odd!" this outdoor Living Structure can
go on your own land when you are opening it up, on
short-term-leased land or on a friend’s land in a
tentative way. it's a base camp for hiking, fishing
or just witnessing the wonder of Earth, decks get
you off muddy ground &. the sleeping volume gives a
place to dry out when you hit rain for a day. the
Matrix is a total reference frame which gives
shelter & handy spots to dry wet gear, air sleeping
bags or hang a string of trout, the cooking cabinet
keeps things together & the table is to hang out at.

BUILDING THE MATRIX/ t.he network is
the basis of the structure, it's
made of 2? lengths of 1" pipe (real
outside measure is about 1 5/16") .
these can be connected with any of
the several temporary scaffold-type
joint fittings now on the market,
i can't recommend the ones we used
because they were made for us by
a neat little lady near Cleveland
who has since retired, see p. 83
for alternative.

THE PADS /these are 11 1/2" waterproof

laminated plywood squares.

use a waterproof glue like Resorcinol

to sandwich the two 3/4"-plywood

pieces & drill 1 l/4"-diameter holes

in the top pieces before gluing

to accept the leveling screws.

we cut the 1" threaded rod into

18" lengths & put the large

washer between a hex nut &

the pipe end.

GETTIN G IT UP /level the sand or
earth in 9 spots & place the pads
level to begin, assemble 3 planes
of 6 pipes each, then tilt up
8= hold 2 of these in position on
pads, put in 3 or 4 transverse
horizontals to make it stand, then
just continue, two people can do it
fine because i did it alone one
time on the beach at Westport,
pads give good bearing area on the
ground & the leveling screws
equalize slight variations &
changes in ground level.

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SLEEPING VOLUME/ cut the sides from 3/4" exterior-type
fir plywood using either handsaw or portable electric
saw & clamped Masonite straightedge, stack &
gang-drill the ends together, then the two sides &
then top & bottom together, the last pair is tricky:
use clamps & move the little drill stand to the hole,
holding down on the base with left hand & using right
to pull drill through the wood (base is reversed),
all holes are 5/16“ diameter & countersunk outside for
l/4"-20x2“ flathead machine bolts (connectors are
counterbored for nuts & washers. ) bolt the bottom to
2x4 beams like decks, then put up sides with top &
ends last, cut hatches & covers with saber saw,
clamped hardboard straightedge & radius bar. apply
foam gasket around opening so hatch cover compresses
it for a tight seal, we put storage shelves in the
blank end for gear, books & folded clothing, i think
the clear plastic skylight-ventilator is a necessity
for pleasure &. air. staple nylon screen on small hatch.

COOKING CABINET /this simple box is made of 3/4" exterior
plywood with a back of 1/4" (stiffened by shelves) .
the parts are screwed & glued together in the old-
culture way. sounds funny for me because it counters
my directions for demountabi1ity, but it seems good now
& then to check your intense feelings by trying it out
again from the polar point of view, it works OK this
way but is bulky when moving, anyway, the three vertical
door panels are piano-hinged together & close against
foam gasket applied to the face edge of the cabinet,
place the magnetic catches strategically to hold the
door closed, the twin beams underneath hold the
cabinet in position while you run the horizontal pipe
member through it. make the 1 3/8"-diameter hole with
an expansion bit & a hand brace, don't forget the
clamp blocks under the cabinet either, you may want
to modify the shelves for your gasoline stove &
equipment, we used Coleman stuff & this worked
very nicely.

COOK

EAT

DECKS

TWIN BEAMS & TABLE /select four straight & dry
fir 2x4' s. cut to €6". lay out & drill pieces
individually, do the counterboring first,
then do the 5/16" holes for the 4 " hex-head
bolts, two beams clamp on two vertical pipes
with the bolts doing the clamping, don't
pull too tight, the table is 3/4" plywood,

24'x48', with 3 countersunk holes on

the centerline I see drawing at left, top}

for the 5 1/2" flathead bolts to the

clamp blocks, hand-tighten all bolts, then level

& center parts before using

wrenches to snug up.

DECKS /there ' s no substitute for exterior
Douglas fir plywood. 4’x8' sheets of 3/4"
are carefully ripped right down the middle,
these are pallets. 4" flathead bolts fasten
panels to a. pair of 2x4’s with 7/8" counter¬
bores on the underside of all mounting holes,
detail on page 82 shows how electrical
stand-off clips are used to secure the
pallets to the Matrix.

FINISHES/ blocksand all parts with the fine
aluminum oxide paper, we used acrylic out¬
door paint in green, yellow A orange over
white undercoat for cooking cabinet, table
& twin beams, everything else was natural
with two or three coats of boiled linseed
oil, laced w'ith turpentine for penetration,
remember to-wipe off all excess oil. if
you don’t it stays sticky & collects air¬
borne dust &. vegetable matter, it’s a mess.

TAPES, ‘‘the sleeping volume can be sealed,
after finishing with either aluminum
weatherproof self-stick tape or clear
polyethylene tape, the aluminum tape is a
little more difficult to get on smooth but
it sure is durable, either should keep the
volume dry & snug.

LADDER/ we built this up fairly conventionally using
2x4's fixed with Resorcinol (waterproof) glue & screws,
safety is a big thing with a ladder so this work must
be done carefully, i think you should use long pan¬
head sheet-metal screws through the verticals into
the steps, these do not taper like wood screws but
have a uniform thread diameter, choose a drill bit
(a.fter counterboriirg for screw head & oversize hole
through the vertical) a hair larger than the screw
diameter minus the thread part & then it will make
its own threads in the wood as you turn it in. the
large clothesline hooks may have to be opened a
little to accept the horizontal pipe but don't over¬
do it. try for really square cuts on the pieces so
they assemble without gaps for weather to get into.

AWNING/support this with a. 2x4 ridge 66" long, with
1" holes 2 1/2" deep to slip on the 1" threaded rod
stuck in the tops of the two vertical pipes, hex nuts
& washers position the 36" rods, the 48"x96'' bit of
canvas has open seams on both short sides with 66"
pipe lengths stuck through, the weight of these pipes
was sufficient to position the awning in any but the
heaviest blow & has the advantage of great simplicity,
i've considered situations when it would be good to
have over-all cover & this can be worked by making
three ridge 2x4's each 12' long to support
a 12'xl6' rectangle of polyethylene tied down on
two opposite sides to the middle outside horizontal,
water drainage could be promoted by tying two nylon
lines over the poly sheet & down to two top opposite
horizontals thus creating two valleys between the
ridges.

THINK /a 11 drawing 8: photographs only show one
reality or set of relationships using the components.
the Matrix is open to many other possibilities,
respond to your own dialectic.

CLIMB

TENSION

FASTENING DECKS TQ MATRIX /tha neat little old lady
in Cleveland used to make us great cast fittings for
securing 2x4' s to pipe, but since she went out we've
had to develop an alternative, it's based on an elec¬
trical conduit stand-off clip, what you must do with
accuracy & care is cut off the 5" vertical bolt so
the bottom (threaded) end almost touches the top of
the pipe, this helps support vertical loads on the
stand-off. dimensions & contours of these clips vary
slightly so set this one up yourself with scraps
so you are sure before cutting all the bolts,
experiment with small, easily managed scraps of
plywood. 2x4 & pipe until you can really see & measure it.

this detail may also be used to fasten wind & shade
screen planes to the vertical pipes in the Matrix.

TENSIO N MEMBERS/ some elements of a structure have
weight pressing down on them, tending
to crush or squash them, this is called a '’compress¬
ion member," as would be the waiter's arm when he
holds a heavy tray of dishes over his head, another
kind of loading is called "tension." when you carry a
bucket of water by the bail, your arm is being
stretched by the weight, it is in tension,
the lightweight aircraft-cable tension members here
make the structure more rigid & taut like a finely
rigged sailboat, this cable has loops formed in its
ends-, held by the smallest electrical split bolts,
cut the eyebolt shank short to fit in the stand-off
& open the eye to accept either the cable loop or
the end of the turnbuckle (which allows adjustment
of the cable tension-don't overdo it here or you’ll
have a mouthful of wires) . these fit on the 1" pipe
sticking outside the joints, use two sets in each of
two modules.

CUT PARTS;

pcs. I''xl0 r 4'' galvanized pipe

Matrix

pcs. I"x66'' galvanized pipe

awnin g

dcs. 3/4"x24''x96'’

decks (pallets)

pcs. 3/4 , 'x48"x96"

sleeping volume

pcs. 3/4"x46 l/2"x48"

sleeping volume

pc. 3/4"x42"x42"

Ig. hatch cover

pc. 3/4"x24"x2 4 "

5m. hatch cover

pcs. 3/4"x 11 l/2"xll 1/2"

pads

pc. 3/4"x24"x42"

cooking cab (top)

PCS- 3/4"x24"x41 1/4"

cooking cab (sides)

pc. 3/4'x24''x40 1/2"

cooking cab(bot.)

pc. 3/4''x9"x40 1/2"

cooking cab (shelf)

pc. 3/4"x21'x40 1/2"

cooking cab (shelf)

pcs. 3/4'’xl4"x42"

cooking cab (door)

pc. 3/4"x24"x48"

table

pc, 1/4 "x42"x42"

cooking cab (back)

pcs. 2 , 'x4' , x96”

beams (deck)

pcs, 2"x4"x66"

twin beams & awning

pcs. 2"x4"x72"

ladder (sides)

pcs- 2"x4"xl0 1/2"

ladder (steps)

pc. 2"x4"xl3 1/2"

ladder (top)

pcs. 2"x2"x6"

connectors

pcs. 2"x2"x4 7/8"

clamp blocks

HARDWARE /

9 pcs. l"xl8' J plated threaded rod leveling screws

2 pcs. I"x36'' plated threaded rod awning support

36 pcs. l/4'-20x4” flthd. bits. plywood to 2x4’s

24 pcs. l/4'-20x5” flthd. bits. decks to Matrix

32 pcs. l/4"-20xl" hex hd. bits. stand-offs

84 pcs. 1/4'-2 0x2" flthd. bits. connectors {sleep, vol)

32 pcs. elec, conduit stand-offs decks & tension members

8 pcs. 1/4''—20x1/2" hex hd . bits. tension members

8 pcs. l/4"x2'' eyebolts tension members

4 pcs. l/4"x6'' turnbuckles tension members

30' 1/8" wire cable tension members

8 pcs. smallest elec, split bits. tension members

MATERIALS

HARDWARE CONTINUED ; 1
11 pcs- 1" hex nuts (washers)

3 pcs. 3/4"x42" piano hinges
8 pcs. magnetic catches
5 pcs. 2" backflap hinges

MISCELLANEOUS /

1 1/2" flathead wood screws
2 " sheet-metal screws
waterproof glue
48'x96" hemmed canvas
l/8"xl/2" closed-cell self-stick foam
large clothesline screw hooks

NOTE/ i know it's repetitive, but remember that all
ir.etal hardware has to be plated bright to stand up in
the real world of sun, rain & temperature changes.

ALTERNATIVE JOINT FITTINGS FOR PIPE /the fitting that
is most like the ones used in our Matrix Structures
can be purchased from the McMaster-Carr Supply Co. ,
P. 0. Box 4355, Chicago, Ill. 60680- it is shown on
page 41 of their catalog No. 79. it is listed under
(L)#4698Y69 (for 1" pipe), the price is 84.55 each,
this is a three-way symmetrical joint cast of
"high-strength, lightweight, aircraft quality
aluminum alloy which meets ASTM, SAE, Federal &
Military Specifications." because it is made of
aluminum it is relatively non-corrosive so it
might have some advantages over our original,
it has two set screws per pipe & each fitting
is rated "at more than a ton of holding power ."

from this information i sure wouldn't hesitate t.o
use it & we're going to test some at Groveland soon,
these guys are very good suppliers but don't stand
back from shopping around in your own area because
you might get a better price, since you need
almost thirty of the units.

leveling screws
cooking ca.b (door)
cooking cab (door)
hatch covers (sleep, vo

SUPER

CONFLICTS /there ’s never been any uncertainty in my
head about the idea that all new life designs must be
based on a more real set of assumptions & objectives
than those motivating the present orgy of production,
my inner conflict has revolved around the question
of whether it's better to attempt new actions from
the center of the system or to work more on the
outskirts, a little isolation from the old-culture
obsessions with big-money/big-power seems to give
me very precious liberty, it becomes apparent that
concrete & inventive living responses, undistracted
by cultural fantasies, are the best approach to the
problem of survival, the big-deal attack is some¬
times very seductive though, it panders to the
Western idea of self & holds out the promise of
quick, easy results, the truth is that propaganda
efforts to encourage slowdown in consumption
are a lot like trying to get a shark to eat
with a knife &. fork.

WITHDRAWAL & RETURN ,''my resolution of the conflict
was to spend long periods at Groveland building,
thinking & scraping the mud off my boots, period¬
ically i returned to the urban centers, usually
because some one individual showed a desire to
nourish the Matrix Idea, you can't respond to a
corporation but you do to a person even if you lack
faith in some of the premises.

DAVID & LEQNARD/ david was a quick, generous N.Y.C. guy
interested in Living Structures & Microhouses, he
sent me to leonard, who ran a big bookstore on Fifth
Avenue, leonard was diversifying from books into
Picasso plates & Bantu necklaces so he allowed as
how lie could sell a reading light of special design
if he had it. this wasn't exactly a clear mandate
for a Structure but i got down to work & built the
prototype Superchair anyway, leonard sold quite a
few i guess even though his fabrication was grisly
& his prices astronomic, i learned something
valuable.

STARTING /Superchair is not a structure built of all
universal members like some of the others, but the
bones do have a high degree of correlated hole
patterning & lengths, the clearest way to begin is
to cut to length, drill & test-erect the basic
twelve-member Matrix, once you get this you can fabri¬
cate the other parts in related groups, bolting
them in as you finish them, this will keep your
whole operation together &. prevent mistakes, all
the bolt holes are 5/16" diameter except the four
acting as pivots between the seat &. back, these are
1/4" holes for precise hinging action without play
or slop, it’s slightly tricky to get the pivot bolts
in place but hang on. don't forget the two washers
between facing 2x2's to cut friction, counterbores
are generally 1/2" deep made with a 7/8'-diameter
speed bit in the drill stand or a wood auger bit
in the hand brace.

CUSHIQN/ you might want to resolve this part before
getting totally immersed in the construction,
the one in the prototype was kind of elaborate,
it had a foam rubber core, rounded with Dacron fiber
& tufted, the cover was black leather, the seat was
made separately from the back & the two segments
were hinged together by a leather strip, the cushion
was not attached to the panels, some people have
built them with squared—off foam & simple box
covers of vinyl or canvas, this seems fine & is
less expensive.

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CONSIDERATIONS/ ! t' S probably an OK
idea to round the long; edges of the
2x2 r s with the fine section of the
ra.sp. actually all the Structures
benefit from this operation, it cuts
down on splinters &. snags. use cap
(acorn) nuts as indicated &
wherever threaded bolt ends protrude,
we always use lock washers on the
flat washer (under nut) to keep
them tight.

TUNING /most wood structures in this
country a.re subject to central
heating, meaning high temperature
levels & extreme dryness, wood
shrinks a lot & assemblies get
loose, bolts should be snugged up
every couple of months, the best
wrenches for the counterbored holes
are called "Spin Tites" or "socket-
drivers." they look like screwdrivers
with a hollow socket instead of a
blade on the business end. get the
7/16'' size for l/4"-20 hex nuts.

TENSION MEMBERS/ two pairs of cables
with turnbuckles go in the lowest
rectangle of each side frame to
resist stresses resulting from
loading on the back, replace the
2 lower 2 1/2" bolts in each frame
with 4" eyebolts, just above these
(between armrest 2x2 r s on each
side) drill & counterbore holes for
2 1/2’' eyebolts, open the eyes
to admit turnbuckles & cable loops,
make the cable loops with electric
split bolts.

BONES

SEAT & BACK/ get hardboard that's
smooth on both sides, cut to size &
nip 3/4" off the corners at a 45-degree
angle, use the fine side of the rasp
to smooth saw marks from edges,
lay out, drill & countersink with care,
clamp & gang-drill the seat panels
together & the back panels together
but the lamp panel has to be done
separately.

BENDING THE LEG /use 1/2" Reynolds
soft aluminum rod (p. 64) . the vise &
scrap-pipe lever slipped over the
free end is good, if this is your first
time bending, start by marking a scrap
with a series of reference lines 1"
apart, then bend gently to get the
feel of it. compare the position of
the lines with the radius (shortest
possible) you get. remove burrs from
ends, polish with fine steel wool &
insert legs in 1/2" holes in the
upper 2x2 on the seat back, retain
it with a shaft collar on each side
of this member.

PLATE & LOOP Si’RAP /olate is 1/4 "x
1 1/4”x3 1/2" with two 5/16" holes
for bolts retaining the strap, cut
with a metal blade in a hacksaw, after
drilling all four holes with the bought
piece intact & securely clamped to the
drill-stand base, remove burrs with
sandpaper block, the stra.p is made from
heavy (not thin & stretchy) natural cow¬
hide belts 1 1/2" wide, sandwich clamp
them between two scraps of plywood to
drill the holes, this is more accurate
than layout on the leather & punching
with a regular leather punch.

r'.V

THE LAMP CHASSlS/ use the hardboard panel as a guide
& drill the two 38 3/4"—long 2x2's. counterbore
these holes 7/8" diameter 3/8" deep, the fluorescent
fixture is a common garden variety undershelf kind,
ours measured 1 l/2"x4 l/2"xl8'\ discard the
bent plastic shield that comes with the light &
through the top of the sheet-metal body drill
two 5/16" mounting holes 10 1/2" apart, drill & counter¬
sink mating holes at appropriate spots in the panel,
mount the panel on the 2x2' s with the 3" flathead
bolts, then secure the fixture between the 2x2's
with 1/4" flathead bolts, cut these off short to
eliminate interference with the bulb.

FINISH THE GRID /cut the plastic grid (Sears is the
good source to buy this stuff) to size with a 40c
fine-tooth keyhole saw. make a cutout to get your
finger in to the switch, smooth all edges with a
fine flat metal file & blocksand, put a stack of
nine washers on each bolt sticking out from the bottom
of the chassis, lay the grid over these bolt ends &
washer stacks, then secure with washers under cap nuts,
the grid will now float free beneath the 2x2’s & the
width of it will keep the assembly from sliding off
the top of the frame, rewire using the heavy cord &
plug because the furnished cord is junk.

MOVABLE ROUND TABLE/ we used a 15' 1 circle of white
Carrara marble with a 10" piece of 2x2 wood glued
to the underside with Elmer's glue, two 2"xl2 f '
strips of felt are glued on both sides of the block
to decrease friction when the table slides on the
supporting members, the weight of the marble results
in stability combined with good sliding action
because of inertial effects.

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BQQKREST ARM /bend this arm from the 1/2" aluminum
rod if you want the rest to fold back parallel
to the bookshelves (completely out of the way) . put
a 30' bend ( see p. 89) in the top part, remove burrs,
polish & then insert it in any of the three 1/2"
holes in the right hand armrest 2x2. retain it
at a good level for you by using a shaft collar
above the lowest 2x2 framing member.

PLEXIGLAS PANEL/ you can cut this stuff with the fine-
tooth keyhole saw, a saber saw (with acrylic blade)

& clamped straightedge, or on a table saw. the 1/4"
thickness cuts nicely, run the flat metal file very
religiously on the edges to nix tooth marks of
sawing, then blocksand & close by polishing the edge
with a soft cloth & any ordinary tooth powder, it
has a fine abrasive in it that doesn’t scratch the
soft acrylic, nip the corners at 45° like the other
panels & countersink the 1/4" holes, to prevent
scratching, leave the adhesive paper masking on the
Plexiglas during all these tooling operations then
remove it as the last act. to make the stops that
prevent books slipping down, stack six or eight washers
on 1" hex-head bolts & mount in the two bottom holes
in the panel, put cap nuts on underside.

CLAMP BLOCKS /pick a 12" or 14" piece of clear, sound
2x2 scrap, lay out holes & cutting lines (allowing for
the saw kerf between pieces) in sharp No.2 pencil, drill
all holes, then rip to split leaving some of the
original piece intact so the whole thing doesn't
fall apart, cut to length very carefully the last
thing, assemble with Plexiglas panel on the arm with
four 2" flathead bolts, don't overtighten, panel
should still tilt for moment—to-moment adjustment
with just hand pressure.

CUT PARTS :’

4 pcs, 2"x2"x48”

14 pcs. 2"x2"x42"

4 pcs. 2"x2"x40 1/2"

6 pcs. 2"x2"x38 3/4"

4 pcs. 2"x2"x37 1/2"

2 pcs. 2"x2"x3 1/2"

2 PCS, l/4"xl5 3/4"x38 11/16"
2 pcs. l/4"xl5 3/4"x35 1/2"

1 pc, l/4"xll 3/16"x38 3/4"

Matrix verticals
Matrix horizontals
St shelves
seat supports
lamp, seat & back
horizontals
back verticals
clamp blocks
seat panels (hd bd. )
back panels (hd bd. )
lamp panel (hd bd. )

HARDWARE/

32 pcs. l/4"-20x2 1/2" hx. hd. bits.
6 pcs. l/4"-20x4" hx. hd. bits.

4 pcs. 1/4"-20x2" hx. hd. bits.

20 pcs. l/4"-20xl 3/4" flthd. bits.
26 pcs. 1/4"—20x3” flthd. bits.

4 pcs. 1/4"—20x1” flthd. bits.

4 pcs. 1/4"—20x2" flthd. bits.

4 pcs. l/4"x2 1/2" eyebolts
4 pcs, l/4"x4" eyebolts
124 pcs. 1/4"-20 steel hex nuts
300 pcs, 5/16"IDx3/4"0D med.-wt.

steel fit wash.

100 pcs. 1/4" Split-Spring

lock washers

24 pcs. 1/4"—20 cap (acorn} nuts

4 pcs
1 pc.
8 pcs

5 pcs

1 pc.

2 pcs
4 pcs

4' turnbuckles
20' of 1/8" wire cable
smallest elec, split bits.
1/2" shaft collars
l^xB' round aluminum rod
7/16" socket-drivers
1 1/2" Bassick plated
furniture glides

Matrix & pivots
shelves

belt loop & plate
seat & back panels
lamp, seat &. back
book stops & lamp
bookrest panel
tension members
tension members
general use

general use

general use
where noted &
as necessary
tension members
tension members
tension members
leg (bookrest)
leg (bookrest)

MATERIALS

COUNTERSINKING/ thi5 tool cuts
a cone section from the hole,
this allows the top (slotted)
face of flathead bolt to
fit down flush with the
face of a panel.

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FINISHING /the 2x2 ’ s go good with a natural finish
like Firzite & loving rubs, i painted the hardboard
a durable flat mustard color with a roller, a short
nap 7" roller is the next best thing to spraying,
if you get sensitive & take time it turns out ex¬
tremely consistent, slightly textured surfaces, don't
try to hurry & load it all on in one coat, use white
primer first, concentrate on even coating, use
light pressure on the roller because all tools
seem to work best if you don't push them.

TIMING 'hub. who built & designed the Unipak Vehicle,
took approximately one weekend to cut, drill & fab¬
ricate the parts for a similar structure, i think
he used a. second weekend to sand & finish every¬
thing. but he has a really high skill level so
maybe most persons should allow a little more time.

WHEN /i was first discovering & applying the
Matrix Idea i couldn't help wondering why
people had to shackle themselves to some kind
of corporate clerkship for twenty years to get
the money for a. home in the country, why
wasn't it possible to apply your best conscious¬
ness & information to develop a new shelter?
it had to be compact & mobile using a minimum
material list & buildable in your apartment
with simple tooling, fabricate the parts in
winter, slip into a van or wagon in spring
& trek to a short—term-leased spot on a
farmer’s back 40 & set her up in a day. it’s
kind of like "freedom now” instead of waiting
until you can "afford" it. living put off is "lost

MICROHOUSE

MAKING THE PANELS :'the shell is unframed exterior plywood
only 3/8" thick, it's lightweight & strong put together
with corner angles just like the Panel Matrix (p 58). use
a protractor, beam compass (p. 51) & great care to lay
out one Master Panel, measure one 42 1/4" length [line ABi
then mark another 42 1/4" length (line AC) at an 89-degree,
angle to it. set the beam compass at 39" & strike two
arcs intersecting at point D with centers at point B &
point C. use a good straightedge to connect the points,
double-double check it & clamp this Master Panel on top
of two 48'' blanks.

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CAREFULLY/ gang-saw, guiding portable electric saw
against a clamped Masonite straightedge, if OK, use
Master Panel to mark around remaining blanks then gang-
saw all 24 skin panels. 2 or 3 at a time, gang-drill 1/4"
holes for joining angles 6 panels at a time, distance
from edge should match your corner angles (mine were
5/8"). add 3/16" to this dimension along joints where
skin panels join interior panels, use electric
drill in stand, lay out openings, then cut individually
with guide & fairly high-speed saber saw.

WINDOWS /use lightest bronze tint 1/4" Plexiglas, it's
beautiful & cuts solar heat, saber-saw blanks then
lay out hole pattern on protective paper, buy a twist
drill sharpened for plastic (sharp angle point) . remove
paper & use Plexi as pattern to drill plywood panel.
be careful . holes are 1/4" so plastic can expand &
contract. 3/8° neoprene faucet washers go under
bolt heads for cushioning plastic, lock washer &
double nut but don't overtighten, lay silicone sealer
bead last one window by food area to watch quail run
while cooking, one low under sleep surface to watch
ants & one as a skylight to watch the stars while
falling asleep is not bad.

HATCH DETAILS /using clamped straightedge & radius bar
with saber saw, cut precise 1/8" strip from entire
perimeter of cover, staple & cement plastic welting
to new edge, using a pile of six or eight washers on
each hinge bolt, raise hinge off surface so welt is
not crushed, do the same with bolts holding
trunk latches, put lock washers & double nuts inside
to prevent' casual unscrewing from outside, use 1/4'— 20
flathead bolts & 3" stop discs. 1/4" holes
for hinge bolts allow movement for careful centering
but drill latch-bolt, holes for close fit on 10-24's.
locate chopped, turnable 3" latch discs
to serve as locking device from inside.

INTERIOR PANELS COME TOGETHER , f the twelve inside
panels guarantee safety Sc strength like the taut
bulkheads in an ocean-racing hull they also
function as the ’'furniture" for sleeping, sit¬
ting, shelving & space division, nine
have openings for movement & flow, lay
out, drill i saw using the same techniques &
manic concentration as on the skin.

LOOKING WEST

LOOKING DOWN

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LOOKING NORTH

TABLE/cut top from piece sawed from one of the
openings, support it with two 33" lengths of 2x2.
these clamp on the sides of hole in the low interior
panel next to the food area, drill & counterbore
holes for clamp bolts 4" from each end. locate the
exact center of the 24"-square table top (by drawing
the two intersecting diagonals) & drill a 1/4' hole
there, round the corners for antisna.g. put a 4'
flathead bolt through this hole, between clamp
members into the 2"x2”x4" block, this block locks
the table top in place, adjust to a comfortable
level for you Sc sit one person on each side on a
floor cushion, glue naugahyde scra.p on top for
easy cleaning.

INSIDE/chuck leans WT

in the entry hatch

of his Microhouse 'X^R N 'v s>

& you can see how
inside panels work.
cut-out horizontal panels be¬
come shelves &. sleeping level. ^
we used it last winter in about'

V below zero with the $2d * dp

electric heater & it wasn’t bad--'

FLOOR

FLOOR ; 1 ‘four separate floor panels are used, out them as
drawn, using beam compass to complete the two short
sides nip corners on a line perpendicular (90 degrees)
to the diagonal, the four pieces that make up each of
the four support grids are slotted together egg-crate
fashion, get an accurate slidinp-not binding-fit.

SITE ASSEMBLY/ after you pick a place that's profound
& beautiful to you, with a little tree shelter from
winds 8c some good sun exposure, minimally cleared of weeds
& brush, prepare spots for each leg pad to hit. they
are all level, so block up those needing it on cut
wood, gravel or flat rocks, rake organic debris &
loose topsoil away from the area of the structure
& about 4' on each side, use rake & muscle to make
the ground flow evenly & smoothly from one part to
another, this helps drainage, then spread 2"
of pea gravel on cleaned space, assemble the four lower
corners separately & upside down, do Tedlar tape on
outside shell corners, bolt on legs using large
"fender" washers inside under nuts to prevent them
pulling through, short edges of skin panels join with
98-degree corner angles, the 89-degree corner angles link
the skin panels to the insiders where they come together,
inside panels fasten to each other with unaltered 90-
degree corner angles & 10-24 roundhead bolts, altered
angles are bent in a vise with a hammer & heavy pliers,
do one of each type perfectly, then use it as a
pattern to bend the rest, use socket-drivers to
slowly draw the 10—24x3/4" flathead bolts up.
the heads will sink into the plywood until they are
flush with the outside surface.

ADDING, 'Place two diagonally opposite bottom quarters
on the site, blocking them with scrap wood at the
center, additional blocking may be necessary at
other points to line up the sections so you can join
them along the vertical (mating) edge of the inside
panels, don't hurry the subassembles into "nearly"
correct position & try to force them while bolting,
you can't force people & you can't force Structures,
listen & feel it & place blocking so parts really do
line up. this will save time & a burned brain, bring
some 12" squares of old rug or carpet to put between
blocking & shell bottom to save dinging it a'll up
under there, it’s not a bad idea to have a 20 x
polyethylene tarp handy in case of rain, t en i vou g
caught, you can cover parts & coffee-talk l ou .

101

COMPLETING LOWER HALF OF SHELL, 'set the two remain¬
ing lower corners in place, line up & block
securely, this shell is so crazy that it won't
achieve the phenomenal end strength until fully
assembled, so avoid overstressing or standing in it
because of this vulnerability, if you find some
bolts impossible to reach from outside, it's best
to put a floor grid & floor panel in one (or both]
of the first two corners assembled, this will
distribute your body weight over a wider area,
be Calvinistic about checking each line of nuts
for tightness as you go. it's negative to leave
loose bolts behind you. this weakens the Structure.

DROP /in all floor grids, lay floor panels on top
of them, neither of these componenet.s is fastened
in. it's simple to rest them on the shell bottom
& works just fine, add the four horizontal panels
at the shell midpoint, now the shell begins to
get pretty rigid so you can lift it from one side
at a time to get crawl room underneath to tape
the bottom joints, exercise real care when
blocking in this position, despite the fact that
it's just temporary, the safety issue is big even
though the Microhouse is only raised 10" or 12".
if it's insecure & gets bumped
off, you can get hurt, be sure to have a partner
around when you do this one because the idea of
Microhouses is to help people, not hurt them.

102

DOING THE UPPER HALF /the next operation is to get
the four top inside panels bolted in place, the one
between the sleeping level & the food area is a
blank with no openings, but the other three have
cutouts, if you have a little wind, bolt two panels
that go at right angles together at their vertica.l
joint, this will form a more stable L shape that
will stand up without blowing over while you bolt
it.

HATCH WATER SHIELD /the 1/4''x6"x42'' clear Plexiglas
is bolted into the joint above the hatch panel, it
runs water off the shell which would tend to run in¬
side at the top of the hatch, replace the 3/4" flat-
head bolts in the lower edge of the upper panel
with 1" roundheads, trick is to tape it first,
punch holes in tape for bolts, then run a bead of
silicone sealer between top edge of Plexiglas &
upper panel for final seal.

FINAL TOUCHES /preassemble (on ground) the four upper
shell corners, place them one at a time, being
careful not to skin everything up if a corner slips,
the last corner may turn out to be a real night¬
mare, especially if you haven't been a good
careful person in all the previous steps, if you
have a little scare on the fit, just be calm &
breathe deeply, backtrack & loosen some nuts on
joints near the problem area & try to massage it
all together, a lot of people have done it & so
can you. when it's all satisfactorily together,
tape joints from bottom up, "shingling" (over¬
lapping) tape segments for watertightness,
center tape on the joint it seals.

WOOD/

21 pcs. 3/8"x48"x96" Ext. A-C DFPw.

1 pc. 3/4"x36"x36" Ext. A-C DFPw.

1 pc. 2"x2"x72" Douglas fir

HARDWARE/

240 pcs. r'xl" corner angles

altered to 98 3

120 pcs. l"xl" corner angles

altered to OS 3

150 pcs.l"xl" corner angles

90° as bought

650 pcs . 10-24x3/4" flthd. bits.

60 pcs.10-24x1" rndhd. bits.

700 pcs. 10-24 hex nuts
50 pcs . 3/8"0Dx3/16”ID neoprene
faucet washers (flat)

8 pcs. l/4"-20xl" flthd. bits.

Sc nuts & washers

2 pcs medium-size trunk latches

& fasteners (bits.)

2 pcs. 2" backflap hinges
&. fasteners (bits.)

12 pcs. l/4"-20xl 1/2" hx. hd. bits.

& nuts & washers
4 pcs. 1/4'-20x2"' flthd. bits.

& nuts & washers

12 pcs. l/4'-20x2 1/2" hx. hd. bits.

& nuts & fender washers
8 pcs. 1 l/2"xl20" thin-wall electrical
conduit (plated tubing)

skin, inside panels,
floor & grid
leg pads

table supports &
clamp blocks

skin-to-inside

panels

skin—to-skin
corner joints

inside-to-inside
panels
panel joints
windows

joints & windows

windows

hatch stops

hatch

legs

pads to legs

legs to shell
legs

MATERIALS

MISCELLANEOUS/

1 pc. 17'-roll soft vinyl-over—
foam welting

1 pc. roll 3M Tedlar tape 2"-wide
#Y9057

3 pcs. 1/4"x24"x24" Plexiglas
1 pc. 1/4'x6''x42" Plexiglas

tube of clear silicone sealer
clear resin wood sealer
flat white exterior primer
acrylic exterior enamel
3/4 cubic yards pea gravel

4 pcs. 6"x30" screw-in
earth anchors

seal hatch

seal joints
windows

water shield (hatch)
seal windows
inside finish
outside undercoat
outside finish
site

tiedown

ALTERNATIVE

<W4

UAtrtVi

OPTIONAL VENT HATCHES /an aluminum, screened roof vent
from Sears (over food area) is a good investment, in
some climates you may need to add vent hatches or
change some windows to vents, use same opening & cut
3/8"—plywood scraps to Plexi size, hinge like
entry hatch, then put self-stick, closed cell foam
strip ( see above) as shown on outside of shell panel,
space hinges & trunk latches off surface of shell
with stacked washers (like entry hatch), get dark-
green superfine nylon mesh screen (for tents) & staple
it on inside surface of shell panel . i use little
tree branches to prop covers open & bolt them shut.

104

LEGS/ see if your local electrical supply house will
cut conduit to length for you. they may not charge
much but watch them like a hawk on holding dimen¬
sions. this will speed up a long process, squeeze
ends flat in a heavy vise to form tabs, try always
for consistency, drill joining holes with 5/16" bit,
then bend tabs to proper angles relative to the
long axis of conduit, pads are 16" circles of 3/4"
exterior plywood, put a 1/4" hole in center for
mounting bolt, it also joins conduit at that end.

snu 1 Uy "

LEGS TO SHELL/ fjo a trial assembly with 3 skin panels
& 3 inside panels, set assembled leg tetrahedron on
this corner, use 3 mounting holes in bottom skin
as guide to mark location & direction of bolt holes
in bottom leg member, drill 4 of these, one for
each tetrahedron.

105

LEGALITIES, ZONING & THE KAFKA TRIP /anytime you put
up a shelter to live in be prepared to deal with the
aroused maniacs who believe that only an oversized,
status-dream stage-set house with a thirty-year mortgage
can be the real home of contemporary man. behind all
the sa.vings-&-loan-type solicitude for hygiene &
"standards" lurks the old money-profit game of real
estate, speculation & the collection of interest
on long-term loans.

BE FRIENDLY/ stow your paranoia {& mine), smile & stare
ahead like with the lumberyard guy. most zoning codes
have an open-ended category for homes not occupied
year-round. this can free you from most illogical
limitations, the Microhouses have another advantage
in not being on permanent foundations, this temporary
quality lowers the anxiety of some zoning people.

W A ST E/ be a straight arrow with all waste products to
prevent hassles, i think the small Thetford self-
contained toilets are best, if each person (or each
2 persons) uses one, emptying the 5-gallon holding
tank every two to four weeks in a public facility, it works
OK. we’ve reduced waste-water amounts drastically by
bathing with an ordinary orchard pump-up spray can
delivering an invigorating & effective mist, using
the spray or sponge bath you can have a fine time
with 1.5 gallons of water, we limit cooking pans
& dishes & wipe all food out with absorbent paper
before washing, these methods limit food waste in
water & also cut the amount so much that in a low-
density population area a shallow, gravel-filled
dry "well" works fine, ordinary trash & paper waste can
almost be eliminated by reusing packaging materials
& altering consumption patterns.

CAUTION/ the use of screw-in earth anchors is a good
idea, especially if you are in a storm or wind track,
use one at each corner, make four slack 1/4" cable
lengths with loops (held by cable clamps). one goes
around bottom leg strut & one loop in eye of the
earth anchor.

HOW TO USB THE 8' MlCROHOuSEy this home was designed
for one person, long-term. & for two good friends,
short-term, that's its reality on an atomistic
level, what use is it if you’re a community of eight
or nine? how do you apply it to a man and woman with two
kids? our old-culture conditioning provided no
good answers, the best it could supply was "can
four or five be hooked together?" trailing off in a murmur
about "prefabrication is the thing now," insatiable
simple-minded gluttony for space & materials con¬
tinues after Earth gives endless messages that it
is not inexhaustible.

OTHER VOICES/ fortunately, another component in my
information bank was anthropology, not the cold,
cousin-naming academic litany but the people-loving
cultural kind, in this mind-dynamiting, informational
Klondike i found an answer & realized why the serene
& earthy settlements of true Africa had always
interested me so much.

RENAISSANCE/ we discovered the "village" again, for
several persons you use several Microhouses, loosely
grouped in a natural setting taking full advantage
of the land & climate, sun. shade, breezes,
north wind & outlook determine individual positions
& orientations with the whole combine surrounding a
central community area, the community part can be
a sheet of clear polyethylene ridged by a rope
between two trees or a pipe Matrix with a table, open
fire, canvas roof & deep, wooden, heated Japanese
tub for bathing.

PRIVACY. COMMUNITY & ECOLOGY/ multiple Miorohouses
nest in the landscape & become a new living exper¬
ience. this is a miniature settlement of light,
colorful, mobile "huts" loosely ringing a village
square, one person, one shelter, with free choice to
be alone or social, not forced to be either by the
architecture, the Microhouses are as lightfooted
as Indians on the land.

106

mmm

SWEET SURPRISE ,'early one spring morning in 1963 a guy
brought me a telegram, at the time i was visiting the
Illinois Institute of Technology to work with some
students on my Information Structures, i'd designed
early total environments using only information in the
form of projections, film & audio, one of the unique
things about them was their comprehensive quality,
the persons in them were no longer conscious of
anything but total immersion in the information; none
of the usual distractions of how projection screens
are supported & how the exits are handled, even the
floors of the chambers & the persons in them were
covered & lost in the images flowing from the pro¬
jectors. continuous & simultaneous (like life analogs),
these structures got a. fair amount of space in the
national & international media, some guys who follow
that stuff even suggested it was powerful seeding
for what happened in images at the Montreal World’s
Fair in 1967. Life magazine, still a strong media
force at that time, did a heavy promo-literary
effort in late ’sixty-two about the "new breed of
people taking over," & they included one of my
Information Structures, the joke was that the only
thing i wanted or needed to "take over" was my own
soul & life direction, some reconstruction was really
called for after those 1950’s years of fruitlessly
attempting to convert the corporate barracudas of
N.Y.C. to Platonic philosopher-kings, i was desperate
to get out of the urban repression of numbers & go
to the country where there was real liberty to build,
i’d stashed a little piece of money & began to gen¬
erate fantasies about holing up at Groveland & getting
some work done on new prototypes, joe & mother had
tipped me to the used-schoolbus market after they
bought one for $100 to store wild-cherry lumber from
the sawmill on the Pekin road, they had it right
behind tlieir house & it was in real good shape,
fireproof &. not much rust, i figured to use one for
a workshop & one for some students who wanted
to come down.

THE TELEGRAM /was from the Graham Foundation for
Advanced Study & announced my appointment as an
architectural Fellow r plus an award of $8000 to
follow the Microhouse work, for a while there it was
really like a ’thirties movie where you come out of your
amnesia to find you are really the natural son of
a kindly Colorado silver-mine owner, that Life
publication had really done the job. we
managed to come down off the ceiling & get our
outfit together & headed for the timber in a
secondhand van full of good feelings.

TREES/ .ioe & mother had never done much with the
timber beyond smiling encouragingly on it. she
walked with long, careful steps looking among
the leaves for four-leaf clovers & mushrooms
while joe got out there once in a while with jim
the pup to dig a possum out of a brush pile,
so when jim 1 tom came down with me, we had to
start clearing, we made ten brush piles, each
about the size of a 2 1/2-ton truck, to get it
so you could walk through, we trimmed out a
track to the west side, it was opened up.

AT LAST/ we had reached the point where we could
try the Matrix network, full-scale outside in
the wind & rain, actually all the previous
Living Structures & the 2x2 antecedent of the
Fun House had been rehearsals for this moment.

109

LOOKING FROM THE EAST/ the Microhouse
that carols, josh henry & me use is a
big space frame (eight cells, continuous
members) with two plywood volumes in
it, one over the other at right angles,
the Matrix is made of l"-pipe members
20 ' long & each cell is a 102" cube,
this measure is from centerline of pipe
to centerline of pipe, this is a very
spidery network (pipe about same size as
a 50? piece) but has proved quite
stable in 70-mph winds we get now &
then due to our place on the edge of
the SW-to-NE storm track that slants up
through Illinois, tension members are
responsible for this structural integrity,
these could have been cable but i used
same pipe as Matrix because this is
less vulnerable to kids or vandals
when there's nobody there for a long
time, but each site differs in exposure
to natural forces, so use intelligence
& talk to local people before building
this thing romantically on a headland
in Tierra del Fuego. i always try to
build in timber, where it exists, to
have advantage of its protection.

THE SITE /this Structure is the first
to do without conventional foundations,
instead It sets an nine concrete pads
(or feet) just like an animal, between
these & the Matrix are 1" threaded
rods to allow adjustment & trimming
of the Structure if ground changes,
the free length of leg below the
last horizontal set of members is
critical to structural rigidity & must
be held to minimum, as here, add more
bracing & network for safety so free
leg is not too long.

U^DPfSR
(W_T. 2-uoAY
eq-rn^4%)

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PAM*s_L- (e.*j SKi*j)unerrUs APoOe/ti&dBCse -CTHep -sids=.

FROM THE SOUTH /this Microhouse was
designed for individual privacy &.
extendibility. opportunity for calm,
undistra.cted examination of the
world & the self is scarce, recent
traditional architectural norms,
"rooms" connected by "rooms," with
forced sharing of cooking, hygiene
& most other spaces, force us to be
social whether we feel it or not.
this produces much hostility, each
volume of the Microhouse is made
for one person, each volume with
cooking unit, washing & waste of
its own. because each has his own
equipment, with no designed-in im¬
perative to share, the person is
freed to get straight with himself.
then , self-reliance & independence
having unkinked the ego, you are OK
to come together with others, because
you are ready &. want to, not because
the building forces you to.

MANY CHOICES, 'this Structure is so
extensible that it can be responsive
to almost any human or physical
situation, it can house a large
family with decks & arcades con¬
necting generations & it can waltz
over uneven ground like an Indian
leaving no scars just by adding to
the Matrix & multiplying volumes.

SUPERCAUTTON/don' t let flexibility
hiind vou to the fact that this is
high-performance structure & like a
r.ra n—Priy car requires judgment. &
discipline in use, don't overbuild
vertically & don't overload the
vni iimes or the decks.

Ill

PADS/ the concrete pads are cast upside-down in a level
form, fasten the 3/4"-plywood pieces together with large
finishing nails, don't drive them all the way in. the
form will come apart easily when the pad cures, wrap &
staple 6-mil polyethylene around each board in the form,
this makes a smooth surface on the final faces of the con¬
crete & slows drying, which makes stronger pads, cut a 1"-
pipe scrap 4 1/2" long for the cast-in bushing, slant
sides of block so it can be broken out later with a chisel.
the 1 l/2"x3 l/2"x3 1/2" block produces the void for the
hex nut & washers holding the final assembly together,
assemble temporarily in form with short scraps of 1"
threaded rod ( see drawing below] . you'll have to
experiment with proportions of the mix
to get it just right, having an old concrete
man like joe around won't hurt anything.

FRODUCTION /if you need 12 pads, make 4 forms & pour 3
cycles, multiple forms let you finish before you get too
old to use the structure, pour form about half full,
agitate with a. 1/2" dowel & a controlled plunging motion,
this works the mix against form walls, then drop in the
6"x6" reinforcing mesh, talk a contractor out of some
18''-square scraps, then finish pouring to top of form, use
a straight l"x4" board to rake across top of form to make
level surface, don’t remove from form too soon.

112

i‘ UG.-k t-twjr

3-WAY FITTlNG/ the original Old Microhouse uses the
same fittings as the Fun House taut you probably re¬
member that the lady is no longer operational so i
recommend you use the McMaster-Carr Supply Co. fittings
mentioned on p. 83 f see drawing at left) . the 3-way joint
works on all 27 of the 90 degree joints in the Old Microhouse &
i use it where two tension pipes cross on the outboard
end of horizontal members, bear in mind my previous
supercaution & don't even build more than one level
if you can't handle it. our disease as North Americans
is we believe that when we think it, we can do it.

2-WAY FITTING/ you can get a 2-pipe fitting from the
McMaster-Carr Supply Co. that will work when you have
one tension pipe joining to a horizontal pipe, it is
a closed fitting ( see drawing at left), which means it's
position must be predicted beforehand (or. alternatively,
it will only work later by slipping over horizontal
pipe ends outboard for external tension members).

ALTERNATIVE 2-WAY FITTING /there is a. solution if you
forget a 2-way joint, assemble beyond it, & don't
want to tear everything down & put it in. on p. 40 of
McMaster-Carr catalog there is a "cross-grip pipe
rack clamp," $2.24 each, these are "open" fittings
& can be integrated into the Matrix without taking
it apart, very useful if horizontal tension members
are needed under a deck due to steeply sloping ground.

PUT PADS DOWN/ remove all loose dirt & topsoil where

the pads go & scrape a really flat, level place in

firm earth for them to sit on. bore a 1 1/4" hole in

a 5' length of old timber (4x4 is OK) & slip it on top of

the pad leveling screw with a washer & hex nut over

that, borrow a light open boat trailer to use as a

primitive forklift, put 4x4 across

rear frame of trailer with pad swinging loose when

you press down on hitch end. with this rolling lever one

person can place the pads gently on the prepared surface

& get proper alignment &. levelness despite their 250-

pound weight, high-performance stuff won't perform

unless fabrication & assembly are carefully done.

113

ERECTING MATRIX /the standard-weight
galvanized iron pipe generally comes
in "random" lengths from 20'8" to
21' so we made the normal length
of a member 20’6''. check position
of the pads by the old Babylonian
method of comparing the diagonal
measures; if equal, the square is
square, you need two persons, a
ladder, ca.t feet & a fine sense of
balance to build the Matrix, stack
three 3-way fittings on each vertical
pipe, then put three of these over the
threaded leveling screws (put the
three lower fittings at the right
level & run a horizontal pipe
through them). do two verticals at
right angles to the first ones,
set-screw the lowest joints & run
horizontal pipe at right angles
to the first one. you’re on the
way. add temporary tension diag¬
onals to steady it as you go.
this makes it safer & more secure
to work on.

NOTES ON LEVELING SCRETTS/ we tried
to keep the legs as short as
possible to ensure a more solid
Matrix, for the same reason try
to limit the exposed threaded rod
& make sure there is plenty of
threaded rod up inside the ver¬
tical pipe, if in doubt use 6'
lengths of threaded rod instead
of the 3' ones.

MORE CAUTION /as you've noticed, 1 hope,
you just build a one level Matrix
to begin with, then when you get
on & sensitive to its character
it’s easily extendible.

114

THE LONG BEAMS /when an original pipe length is not
sufficient, the McMaster-Carr source has a splicer
so you can add a 10* piece to a 20' one & get 30'.
take plenty of time to measure the Matrix cells &
trim & level it. the geometry should be 90 degrees fine all
the way & measures should be within 1/16" of right on.
then you are ready for the long 2x4 beams that support
both the volumes & the decks, these beams are secured
to each horizontal pipe they cross with U-bolts ( see
drawing at left) counterbored for the nuts & washers,
the main thing to remember when adding components
to this Matrix is that all horizontal measurements
are taken from the vertical pipes because the joints
are not symmetrical, so in spacing a volume, beams
or deck boards, center them between the verticals on
each side if you have trouble buying good, straight
2x4's in this length, use 10-footers & splice them
in the middle with two 3,/4"x3"x48" plywood pieces
through-bolted on either side of the joint, whichever you
do, be sure to get dry, dead-straight no-warp 2x4's for
this place, warp won't work.

DECKS/ our original has 3/4"-exterior-plyv;ood decks
screwed to the tops of the long beams, i don't think
screws are good fasteners in the same league as
bolts but winter was closing in so we had to move,
i hope you use bolts ( see drawing left ) . these decks
worked fine & lasted well but had a slight tendency
to bow down in the middle of the crosswise span,
this spoils the geometry & collects water, so you
might want to follow the altered decks on chuck &
lou's new Microhouse (see photo p. 126) . there we
are trying lighter plywood (1/2" thick) with 2x2's
screwed to it. then this 4x8' pallet is bolted
to the long beams wherever a 2x2 bears on it.
i think this will make a lighter, stronger deck with
less deflection, the 1/2” plywood is much cheaper too.

MAKING FRAMES FOR A VOLUME/ in one sense our volumes
in this Microhouse are relatively conservative in
construction, but it was twelve years ago, bad weather &
no cover for setting up a panel fabrication
area, so i decided to do traditional 2x4's
but with a twist tha.t applied some aircraft construc¬
tion principles, we made the volumes like old airplane
fuselages, with frames (formers) at right angles to the
long axis of the volume & closely spaced along the
length of it. then comes the best part—when the inner
& outer skins are applied they become stressed,
strengthening major parts of the structure, knitting
the frames together & guaranteeing the whole thing,
this was a satisfying deviation from the usual norms,
it proved an exceptionally simple & direct way of
framing & exhibits great strength just where conven¬
tional framing is most weak, where two planes meet.

FABRICATTQN /cut the 2x4's precisely to length & get
them as square as you can. don’t shrug off cutting
the gussets (3/8" plywood from scraps of outer skin)
accurately on the mistaken assumption that they don't
show when the thing is completed, your liver doesn't
show either but if it isn't operational you won't be
young & beautiful for long, pick the flattest floor
surface you can & assemble the first frame, set it
together first with some little tacked-in blocks to
restrain the parts while you check it. glue & nail it.
check by Hammurabi's method of comparing diagonal
measurements, when you have it within 1/32", mix the Re¬
sorcinol glue (smear some on end of short 2x4's where
they meet the long ones for insurance) & gently tack the
gussets in place, after all percussion is over, check
the diagonals again & nudge them if necessary, then let
this master frame set until the Resorcinol really
cures, be an adult & don’t rush it.

FRAME PRODUCTION /when the glue has cured on the master

& its integrity is intact, elevate it on three edgewise

2x4's & C-clamp members for next frame to it using
master as a guide.

116

CONSTRUCTING A VOLUME ;first step
is to put bottom outer skin down
on the long beams, it's made of
five pieces of plywood 3/8"x
48"x92 1/4". lay these down on
the long beams, massage them
carefully into correct position
&. tack each one

with finishing nail partway into
the beam, next put the frames
on the plywood in the finished
loca.tion. they will tend to fall
over so have your friend hold two
up at a time (in nearly the right
place) while you tack slanting
braces inside them, use scrap
plywood cut from the skin for
this, after you get out of danger
of immediate collapse, locate the
bottom of each frame precisely &
tack a finishing nail partway up
through the bottom skin into the
frame to make it definite, then
adjust each frame to perfect
vertical, adjusting the bracing
scraps as you go. tack up side
panels next, observing the spec¬
ially cut widths designed so
seams of outside skin & inside
don't have joints at same point,
use No. 8. 1" flathead wood screws
to secure to frames, place 2x2
blocks behind unsupported area
(long-edge skin joints) fastening
with wood screws, now guarantee
security of volume to Matrix by
l/4"x4 1/2" lag screws through
each frame base member into t.ie
long beam underneath.

INSULATION /we used 3" Fiberglas
with aluminum foil (toward inside)
to control condensation in wall.
staple it up, taking time, be sure
to wear goggles, you tnay laugh but
i wore rubber gloves & on windy
days a filtering respirator . the
Fiberglas is good inert insulation
but very negative in skin & lungs,
we've been trying to develop a
less lethal way of insulation
that isn't plastic foam either.

INSIDE SKIN /lav the 3/4" floor in
place starting with the center
panel, tack temporarily with finishing
nails, the pieces are cut 1/4"
narrower than space inside frames
so set with equal space on each
side, screw to frames with No. 8, 1 1/2"
flathead wood screws every 8".
use same system for l/4"-plywood
ceiling skin & secure with No. 8, 1"
flathead screws, do wall skin
last, always start with panel near
center of volume & work toward
each end.

OPENINGS /the frame-stressed-skin
method produces a rugged & simple
structure but openings for light,
air & passage must be carefully
located & executed to preserve
the integrity of the volume, we
worked on many methods of putting
ends on the plywood "tube” but in
the end elected to do it very
simply with 2x4 framing (see
drawing at right),
hatches were kept relatively small
& isolated from the edges of the
plane where they occur, this keeps
skin strength intact.

HATCHES

Uatzm coJen-
<cor W Pud.

118

INSIDE SYSTEMS /the application of
Living Structure principles & the
Matrix Idea to the problem of
"furniture" makes Microhouses
possible, put traditional, separate
pieces of furniture in a tiny
shelter & you have a shack,
uncleanable, crowded &, impossible
to live in. the old ideas of
furniture have always interfered
with the development of truly
compact, ecologically correct
homes, the Matrix Idea uses
generalized planes, each of which
can be responsive to changes in
position & relationship (usually
without tools. )

RAILS & PALLETS/ we attached
horizontal 2x2's to volume side-
walls at 12" vertical intervals
using l/4''x2 1/2" lag bolts into
the frame, then we made a bunch
of pallets 16"x84 1/4" with 3/4"
plywood on two 2x4’s.
these sit on the hori¬
zontal 2x2 rails bridging the
width of the volume, by using
the 16"-width module you can make
a panel of a desired width for bed,
table, elevated floor or storage
shelf, these pallet assemblies
can also be slid back & forth
lengthwise for instantaneous mobility
& change, the lower volume in our
Old Microhouse has undergone
about four pallet-arrangement trans¬
formations in twelve years of
life.

PALLETS

Hero

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WALTZ OF THE MATRIX/ vou can start with as little as
a one-volume, four-cell single-level network to keep
money Sc work time manageable, then progress to an entire
community of Microhouses, they will all be knit into
a delicate steel & plywood fabric that is as light-
footed on the land as a Kiowa brave, the Matrix can
be built around trees & plants & move like a heron
through a shallow gentle stream, there is cell
regularity with any degree of asymmetry in plan,
decks provide outdoor living spaces & circulation
paths from one part of the complex to another,
more isolated volumes provide living nodes for
extended family members (straight or counter-cultural)

& as children mature they can move further from the
hearth, hopefully thereby staying closer to the parents
in heart & mind because the structure responds to the
need for independence, paradoxically, present con¬
servative architecture strait-jackets family members
to the same dinner table, kitchen & bath, thus forcing
them to mental rebellion & alienation.

121

C VULW

STARTING

tMjfi*. twmv UlrttH

<*i r<f&MPBSA»w

FIRST STAGE/ thiS
view is the unit i suggest for
starters, from point of view
of cost, experimentation & the
level of structural consciousness-
of most people i know, it's a
one-volume, one-deck, four-cell,
single-level Matrix, if you're an
ex-English bike-frame builder &
have a highly developed sense of
gut structure {& a large family)
just arithmetic the parts &
hardware list ( see pg. 124) by the
number of people you have & get
off. for most of us this is a
good place to start & since it's
so simple to extend there's no
technical issue.

FOR LITTLE OLD LADIES & ME /if you
are in a cold sweat just order
1 1/4" pipe & the same source has
heavier fittings, use larger-
diameter threaded rod & the
whole thing will be scaled up
& a little tougher, you still
can't restore a Tiger tank on
the second level but this will
counteract the cold sweat.

HOMAGE TO BEN FRANKLIN/ i think
it's important to ground the
Matrix (electrically) by attaching
one leg to a l/2’'-diameter copper
rod driven 8’ into the ground,
use a truck (long) battery cable
to do this, try the junkyard.

EXPOSED POSITIONS /if you are
putting this thing up on Everest
or some other windy place, don't
be shy about cable-tensioning
Matrix corners to earth anchors.

MATERIALS/ items are listed in approximate order
of use in the building process, so hardware &. lum¬
ber categories are integrated, wood stuff is dis¬
tinguished by an asterisk (*) preceding the quantity.

9 pcs. 6"x24"x24" concrete pads
( see Misc. list for components)

9 pcs. 1/4"x6"x6" steel plate
9 pcs . r'x36" threaded rod
27 pcs. 1" hex nuts
36 pcs. 1" fit. wash.

9 pcs 1" Split-spring lock washers
18 pcs. 1" 3-way fittings #L4698Y69

(McMaster-Carr, see p. 83)

9 pcs. r‘xlO'3" galv. iron pipe
12 pcs. I"x20'6" galv. iron pipe
7 pcs. I'xl2'6" galv. iron

pipe (splice by welding if
needed)

40 pcs. cross-grip pipe rack clamps

(#5046412, McMaster-Carr)

*8 pcs. 2"x4"x20'

24 pcs. 3/8"x3 3/4"xl 3/8"

tangent U-bolts

24 pcs. l/4"xl"x3* aluminum strip
*o pcs. 3/4"x4'x8' DFPw.

60 pcs. 1/4-20x4’' flthd. bits, (hex nuts &

5/16" fit, wash. )

*32 pcs. 2"x4”x92 1/4"

*32 pcs. 2"x4''x85 1/4"

*64 pcs . 3/8"x3''x8" DFPw .

*24 pcs. 3/8"x4'x8'

32 pcs. l/4"-20x6" hx. hd. bits, (hex nuts &

5/16” fit. wash . )

feet

bearing plates
leveling screws
leveling screws
leveling screws
feet

Matrix
verticals
(level ground)
horizontals
tension mem¬
bers

tension mem¬
bers to Matrix
& ladder
long beams
long beams to
Matrix

plate (on U-bolt
deck surface
decks to long
beams

volume, frames
(horiz.)
volume, frames
(vert.)

volume, frames,
gussets

skin (external)
frames to long
beams

124

insulate volume

*750 sq. ft. 3"xl6" roll Fiberglas

insulation (foil vapor barrier)
*19 pcs. 1/4"x4'x8' DFPw.

*23 pcs. 2”x2"xl0'

*10 pcs. 2”x2"x4'

179 pcs. l/4"x3” sq. hd. lag bits.

(screws)

*8 pcs. 3/4"x4'x8’ DFPw.

*18 pcs. 2"x4''x84"

90 pcs. l/4"-20x4" flthd. bits.

(hex nuts & 5/16" wash. )

*14 pcs. 2"x4"x39 7/8"

*4 pcs. 2"x4"x83 7/8"

*4 pcs. 3/4"x3 l/2"x41 7/8” DFPw.

*4 pcs . 3/4"x3 l/2"x82 3/4" DFPw .

*8 pcs. 3/4"x3 l/2"x34 1/2" DFPw.

*8 pcs. 3/4"x3 l/2"x33" DFPw.

7 pcs. 2" backflap hinges

4 pcs. med.—size trunk latches ft
fasteners

*2 pcs. 2' , x4"x30 1/2"

*1 pc. 2"x4"x54"

*1 pc. 3/4"x24"x54" DFPw

skin (interior)
pallet rails
(long)

pallet rails
(short)

rails to inside
walls

floor & 9 pal¬
let tops
pallet beams
pallet tops
to beams
vertical fra¬
ming ends
horizontal
framing ends
verticals (end
hatch frame)
horizontals
(end hatch frame)
hatch frame (vert. )
hatch frame [horiz.)
vent hatch &.
entry

secure vent
hatches

entry hatch (horiz, )
entry hatch (vert. )
hatch cover (entry)

MATERIALS

MISCELLANEOUS /

9 pcs. 6"x6" reinforcing mesh I8'-square reinforce con¬

crete feet

1 pc. 50'-roll soft iron tie wire bind reinforcing bars

9 pcs. I"x4 1/2" galv. iron pipe bushing (cast

in feet)

pea gravel

Resorcinol waterproof glue

1 l/4"-long coated box nails
(or annular groove nails}

10 pcs. 2"x2"xlZ"

staples (heavy)
key lock

2 pcs. 17 J -roll soft vinyl-over¬
foam welting

many pcs. No. 8, 1 1/4” flthd. wood

primer & acrylic enamel
liquid neoprene
2"-wide gauze ba.ndage

site preparation
frame adhesive
gussets to
frame

joining blocks
(ext. skin at
corners)
placing insul¬
ation

entry hatch
cover

seal vent hatches
&. entry hatch

screws int. & ext. skins to

frame

finish ext. skrn
waterproof roof
seal paint to neo¬
prene over seams in
plywood

NOTE/all hardware to be zinc or cadmium plated
against corrosion.

NOW , ’"that most Westerners
are far enough advanced in con¬
sciousness to at least give lip
service to the idea that life is
a flowing stream rather than a
series of stone blocks each of
which is isolated & discrete, i
guess it's OK to include a few of
the things we are working on now.
i hesitated because i didn't want
to appear to hype or whet an ap¬
petite without delivering full in¬
formation but we wanted the book to
be right up to the moment in what we
are working on.

CHUCK & LOU’S MICROHOUSE /11 was soon
after we went down to Groveland that
first summer that i noticed chuck &
lou appearing red-eyed in the morn¬
ings & holding an occasional states-
man-like conference under the elm
trees, we all talked one night by
torchlight & it came out that they
were doing their head resources tool¬
ing to build their own Microhouse,
nothing could have been more exciting
than their level of involvement, their
mental geography is what i've always
sought in the world, a synthesis be¬
tween the high-energy technology
of North America & the lovely
measured beat of craftsmanship from
Old Europe in Czechoslovakia & Italy,
you must enjoy knowing them more each
day because when chuck points at a
sparrow its mental health improves.

ROOTS & BRANCHES/ a 11 the things I'm
involved in seem to have a. way of zipping
from "a long time ago" to "right now,"
but it seems like a wondrous quality,
in my first book i had a drawing of a
vertical volume in a Matrix, like the
Old Microhouse one & i have drawings
hinting at that vertical space with
pallets for sleeping, working, talking &
cooking, raining down from the top
skylight like falling oak leaves.

ACTION ,'chuck & lou took it from there
& are in the process of building a
new structure which looks so beautiful
from bob's pictures even though it's
not yet complete, they succeeded in
detailing & fabricating it splendidly,
it is panelized of 1/4* plywood sand¬
wiching some Celadyn honeycomb paper,
that stuff really looks good, they
used Celadyn 2" thick & it is as
rigid as a Ivlennonite gate & precise
to work with, we feel it will insulate
well without the disadvantages of foam
or Fiberglas. it's just Kraft paper
& seems like a sound use of resources,
the Celadyn guys gave a little price
break, as did Borden adhesives, & my old
favorite for corporate sensitivity, 3M
company, came through with free Tedlar
tape for sealing the joints! thank God,
some corporate persons don't overdo
the act about figures being so much
more important than people or ideas.

HEW JOINT FITTINCS/ we are trying
to get into a position where we
are liberated from the necessity
of buying joints for Matrix net¬
works. i guess if the lady in
Ohio had gone on we'd have con¬
tinued with those fittings for¬
ever, but since she didn't that
made a natural change node, the
ones from McMaster-Carr mentioned on
page 83 seem fine but it would
be great to produce our own.

WOOD & PI.YWOQD/ rich has done a
lot of work in ordinary dimension
lumber & laminated plywood with
some exciting results, his proto¬
types promise complete independence
from commercial fabricators &
look so fine he & carole will
probably take patent protection
on some of the work, these joints
are designed for principally
linear cutting on a table saw
in long pieces, then the bits
are sliced up, drilled for l/4'-20
bolts & they're ready to go.

CONCEPT /the wood joints are
based on assembling one
universal piece into trios with
the bolts, these trios then
become 3-way joints, it's a
real beauty.

CONNECTORS

MEW JOINT-NEW MATRIX/ this is a
drawing for a new Matrix using
rich's wood fittings, these
make it possible for us to use
electrical conduit for the tube
members, it is light, inexpensive
& durable because it's well
plated, the joints are cheap
& can be made of scrap wood
that's thrown away under ordinary
circumstances, they come completely
apart for absolute closest-
packing in shipment & can be
made in right- or left-hand
versions just by changing the
assembly pattern, this Matrix
was designed to fit into a new
9' Microhouse that will be well
insulated by the plywood-sand¬
wiched Celadyn honeycomb paper,
it supports interior
plywood pallets for sleeping,
table & floor planes, if we have
good luck &. the world holds
together, we'll soon have six
of these test Microhouses erected
in the shadow of Sears Tower
& the Chicago Loop, they are
to be used by University of
Illinois students as on-campus
homes.

GEOMETRY/ these fittings, like
many of the Matrix Idea objects,
have a neat, witty, Chinese-puzzle
kind of aspect, simple & almost
obvious once you see them, but
requiring much application,
discipline & tenacity to develop
Sc realize.

VEHICLES/as much hope as v,-e all
have for deep changes in public
transport systems & an end to
the environmental burden of the
automobile, small-scale vehicles
can be useful now if consciously
designed & they may be applicable
to future dreamy situations,
casual transport & back-country
matter-through—space don't
warrant large-scale systems in
many cases.

TRUTH /what i just said up there
is one component of my truth,
i guess the other is that i
never got over sitting between
uncle paul & joe. barely able
to see the nighttime tunnel of
moths making love to the head¬
lights over the dashboard, in
the front seat of a new 1937 Ford
just in from Detroit, my uncle
showed up one evening at the
farmhouse & wanted joe & me to
try out his car. we picked the
impossibly narrow ribbons of two-
lane concrete that worked fine
in the days before the auto became
our inviolate sacred cow. joe
gently urged paul to "blow the rust
out of it" 8c paul would snicker
& pin the speedometer & we roared
through the night to the next
place where whiskey was available,
no danger to a kid, though, because
they knew every inch of those roads
the way a farmer knows his field,
drunk or sober, day or night,

]

ROMANCE ENDS/ desoite that heavy
nostalgia it's clear that we must
become selective, especially in
this area of technology, so i've
worked on a series of prototypes
in different settings over the
years for inexpensive transport
& prime-mover design, these have
mostly proceeded from the point
of recycling a VW bug (running
gears, floor pan, engine & drive
train) & designing
superstructure solutions which
an independent person can make
with simple tools in his home.

VW components of late middle age
are at the present time simple
& repairable & despite inflated
prices due to the dune-buggy
market are still not out of sight.

1974/ the drawings here are of the
newest prototype that I'm working on
with University of Illinois students,
we’ve obviously applied Microhouse
shell geometry in designing both
the cab & the container in back,
i think the container can either
hold objects or function as a
camper which can be removed
from the vehicle, elevated on
tetrahedrons, freeing the rest
of the vehicle for transport
functions, all panels are small
so they could be made in an
apartment either with plywood faces
over 1" honeycomb paper or maybe
aluminum faces with l/4"-plywood core,
if we can keep going with it, we'll
try adapting electrical propulsion
& i’d like to see how it would work
with shafts drawn by a single horse.

MA*.

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131

MARK TWAIN/ when i was about twelve
years old i had this great idea
to build a kind of incredible
shrinking tugboat, pilothouse
toward the stern, a paddle-wheel
thing, & take it down the Mackinaw
to the Illinois River & maybe
even to New Orleans, i planned
to mount a chopped bicycle frame
in the pilothouse part with the
sprocket chain going to the
stern paddle wheel, of course,
the shortened handlebars were
to be linked to twin rudders,
the trouble was that i swam like
a greased sash weight & got an
earache when anybody looked
cross-eyed at me so it didn't
ever come off.

NEW HQ PE /last year i was talking
with some guys & we got started
on a Matrix Raft to float
down the Mississippi on. they
made a prototype which wasn't
bad but lacked the structural
venturesomeness i looked for.
so i designed the Dragonfly.

DRAGONFLY

DESIGN/ the Matrix Raft these other
guys worked on had real simplicity
& the fabrication & parts were
really good, it was
demountable & did a lot of
things, the superstructure even
utilized 48"—Cube Modules
with skeletons of 2x2 stock, but
it didn't seem to have that kind
of confident structural integrity
that a vehicle should
have, so i worked on rough
drawings based on rotating the
square cross section-45 degrees from
the way it's usually thought of.
this was based on an early design
for a Microhouse, this gives
the foam floats a kind of self-
keeling action in the water,
the superstructure is to be of
light foam panels clad in plywood
& distributed like a large

Panel Matrix, the two floats &
the volume will be linked by
struts of tabbed electric conduit
forming ganged tetrahedrons,
i think it will be strong.

DOUBTS/ don 1 t know yet about
auxiliary power, maybe an electric
"aqua-bug” rig would do it. right
now there are a lot of maybes
about the whole project & i
may just be setting myself up
for a very novel & artistic
drowning scene but if i live
i think i'll try it.

■) WLOO.VW

2 S.T6Ujrs

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8 JCPY (ctTSji)

CAREFUL EXPANSIOW/ we ' ve had SO
much fun & confirmation from all
the 8' Microhouses going up
that about a year ago we started
to work on a more comprehensive
version with an interior Matrix
supporting several floor levels
plus all the equipment, the shell
is very exciting because each of
the six main surfaces will be
broken up into sixteen smaller panels,
the major shell dimensions will
be approximately 17'6'’ & each
individual panel can still be cut
from a 48”-square blank, it will
have greatly increased volume
but the components will form a
relatively small package, i
think this high-frequency panel-
breakup will yield a very
strong shell.

I USED/ the heading "careful
expansion" up above because when
i built the first model of this
Microhouse in 1957 it seemed
sort of big to me. i wondered
if i had been bitten on the
neck by the bigger-is-better
vampire as i slept one night,
it doesn't really seem so because
the structure isn't all
that big & would make a fine
transition dwelling for a couple
with a tiny baby, besides, it
would be so exciting to wake up
inside that crasy shell & Matrix
every morning that i can't resist
it.

IMSIDE/ is an eight-cell Matrix
with sleeping & study levels in
the upper range, cooking &
hygiene are back-to-back in a
package hung from two vertical
members near the entrance hatch,
the sunken wooden bathtub is
under the lower deck panels &
may have a counterweighted floor
section over it. there's a 12'
couch in the general area
& parts of the structure have
14' ceilings, not bad for a
little home which alarms the
claustrophobes when verbally
described but will be (i bet 85)
experientially as big as the
Taj . when completed.

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16 CAOMLP.

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18' MICROHOUSE

MANY PERSONS /have nurtured the Matrix Idea but
this book is particularly dedicated to Susan
Petersen, who really made it possible with her
good Nebraska spirit; to Jim Hart, because he
helped so much to open Groveland up for set¬
tlement & work; and to CHUCK KILLAR & LOU CAIRO who
could rebuild a watch in a hailstorm & never
get ruffled.

BOB/witanowski made the cover photograph & all
but five of the interior pictures, i wish he could
have done every one of them but it just wasn't
physically possible, the good part was that he
didn't just point the expensive magic devil box
in the general direction of Groveland but
focused all his considerable human power &
unique concentration on becoming one with those
actions, it's hard to beat that when it's all
as deeply integrated with craftsmanship as it
is with Bob.

THE ADDRESS/ for Groveland is Post Office Box
7, Groveland, Illinois 61535. we just rented
a cheap old storefront at 7017 North Glenwood
in Chicago (zip is 60626) because it's a beauti¬
ful space & should be enjoyed by someone, we
threaten, in our imitation of adults, to sell
some Living Structure &. Microhouse precut kits
(complete with hardware) there one of those days
soon, at least it will be a good information
node.

ADDITIONAL PICTURES/ p. 24. gene hong; pp. 82, 84.

87. & 89 barbara isaacs.

Publisher: Bruce Harris

Editor: Linda Sunshine

Production Director: Murray Schwartz

Proofreader: Arnold Leo

Design: Ken Isaacs & Frank Colosa

wv*

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